Suit filed over Ogden Museum

A $1.9-million lawsuit against New Orleans’ new museum of southern art has accused its founder of using taxpayer money to build a private museum on public land, sidestepping the state’s conflict-of-interest laws and illegally naming it after himself. The suit, filed in Baton Rouge by five New Orleans-area residents, accuses Roger Ogden, founder of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, of using his position as a member of the LSU Board of Supervisors to influence the approval of the museum. Also named in the suit is the museum’s financial backer, the University of New Orleans Foundation, and the LSU Board of Supervisors.