Artsy Distilling - Out to Lunch - It's Baton Rouge

Not so long ago, they used to roll up the sidewalks in downtown
Baton Rouge at 5 p.m, or so the saying went. And it wasn t far from
the truth. Today, however, downtown is a burgeoning district, home
not only to state office buildings and law firms, but to apartment
complexes, restaruatns, museums and galleries and, even, a
distillery. Walter Tharp is the president and owner of that
distillery Cane Land Distilling Company, which makes rum and other
products from sugar cane grown right across the river from Baton
Rouge on the Alma Plantation and Sugar Mill, owned by Walter s
family. Walter hatched the idea of opening a distillery while
attending a party at a wedding of the owners of the famed rum
company, Ron Zacapa in Guatemala. Walter launched the company in
2013, but it would be more than four years before Cane Land opened
for business. Rodneyna Hart is an artist and a facilitator of
others art. She is the exhibitions manager at the Louisiana Art and
Science Museum, which has been one of the key attractions downtown
since opening in the 1990s. Rodneyna juggles her duties with those
of curator at the Healthcare Gallery off Jefferson Highway. In her
free time, Rodneyna also serves as a freelance curator for one off
shows of local artists. Times are changing in downtown Baton Rouge
and Stephanie s guests on this edition of Out to Luch are changing
them.

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