What is The Creative Ball? Go inside one of Northwest Louisiana's favorite events

When James Michael LeBlanc moved to Shreveport, he didn't expect to create one of the most anticipated balls in the region that magnified the talent and voices of northwest Louisiana artists.

In 2015, LeBlanc started his photography business J Michael Photography Co. after relocating to Shreveport with his spouse from Dallas, Texas. Four years later he established The Creative Magazine.

Since 2021, LeBlanc and his company J Michael Photography Co. have hosted a biennial event known as The Creative Ball to amplify the magazine's mission.

He said, "I was sort of coming up with these ideas of ways that I could utilize more of my editorial work in a more publication form."

The Creative Magazine is a boutique publication that celebrates the lives and talent of Shreveport's creative and artistic community.

According to The Creative's website, its goal is to seek and inspire readers to embrace an eclectic and diverse culture bound together through common threads of art and community.

"At the time, we didn't really have publications locally, that really kind of focused primarily on the arts," said LeBlanc. "Which has always been a huge draw for me. I like to read about it, I like to photograph it and I like to tell the stories about the people who do it."

This desire to inspire creativity in northwest Louisiana spearheaded the creation of The Creative Ball which was introduced to the community in 2022.

LeBlanc said, "what makes this event unique is that we take the people that we've written about in the magazine like singers, performers, different people that have the ability to put on some type of stage show, we invite them to be a part of the ball."

In the first year, The Creative Ball saw several 100 people. LeBlanc said, "that was the moment that I realized that there are people in this community who want to support an event like this."

The Creative Magazine duly inspires the Creative Ball in the sense that its main purpose is to create a tangible relationship with the arts. The Creative uses its subscription to make an experience for its readers through specialized swag gifts.

"A lot of people my age and younger feed off of the way things make them feel," said LeBlanc. "Where we really try to get our success is not so much about, how can we make this magazine profitable, it's really about how can we make you feel."

In years past The Creative Ball was mash up between the MTV Video Music Awards and the Met Gala. "It's really extravagant," said LeBlanc.

The Creative Ball 2024 will be held at Horseshoe Casino and Hotel on Saturday, May 18.

Tickets are on sale for $75 and are available at www.eventbrite.com.

To learn more about The Creative and The Creative Ball visit www.thecreativemag.net.

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: The Creative Ball is back. Learn more about The Creative and its start