Local artist Cora Lou Robinson celebrated 90 years on this earth Thursday with family and friends at Town & Country Health and Rehab Center where there was a room packed with folks to wish her well. There was also a spread of food, birthday cake and live entertainment.

Over the years Robinson has generously shared her art by donating original works and prints to organizations near to her heart. She has been an active supporter of the Minden St. Jude auction since its beginnings in 1976.  She has donated many pieces of her art to be auctioned thereby bringing in thousands of dollars to support the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.  In addition, she has donated her art to the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum to raise money at their annual silent auction.  The proceeds of this auction help fund the museum.

Known to most simply as “Cora Lou”, the Minden native and resident is recognized for not only her talents as a professional folk artist but also as a teacher, wife, mother, grandmother and true product of a deep-rooted Minden family.

Born in 1935 to Ed and Celeste Sibley Brown, Cora Lou was married to Ronald Robinson. She began painting in the folk art style in the early 1970s.

Her childhood was what she calls “picture perfect.” She played from morning ’til night with the neighborhood children. Their lives followed a pattern. During the week they went to school, and each Saturday morning they listened to “Let’s Pretend” on the radio and that afternoon would walk to the “picture show” and then walk safely home. Each Sunday they went to Sunday school and then to church. She remembers the thrill of chasing lightning bugs at dusk while all the neighborhood parents sat outside and visited on their front porch. It was a simpler time in Minden, Louisiana, and for many of the people that grew up here.

Cora Lou Brown Robinson says her paintings are about “God and Country, Family, and Friends.” Many of her ideas for her paintings come from her childhood and all come from her heart. Her paintings have been featured all across the United States and no one appreciates her more than her hometown and what she does for them by creating their memories on canvas.

She believes that every painting tells a story; consequently her paintings have found an appreciative audience in collections from California to Florida. She paints from her heart, and her work brings to mind a place and a time we once knew or wish we did.