Art and nature in harmony
NOMA is committed to the health and safety of our community. Please see safety guidelines below.
Admission is free. Donations are appreciated.
Open seven days a week
Summer Hours (April–September) 10 am–6 pm | Winter Hours (October–March) 10 am–5 pm
Wheelchairs may be used throughout our barrier-free property and are available upon request.
Image: Elyn Zimmerman’s Mississippi Meanders bridge is illuminated at dusk.
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden occupies approximately eleven acres in City Park adjacent to the museum. Atypical of most sculpture gardens, this garden is located within a mature existing landscape of pines, magnolias, and live oaks surrounding two lagoons. The garden design creates outdoor viewing spaces within this picturesque landscape. Originally conceived in 2003, the Sculpture Garden doubled in size in 2019 and has grown to include more than 90 sculptures. READ MORE
Sydney and Walda Besthoff are the namesake visionary founders behind a world-renowned sculpture garden for New Orleans.
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Architects, landscape architects, lighting designers, and arborists were among the contractors who made it all possible.
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See highlights of the Sculpture Garden in a virtual tour produced in partnership with the Google Arts & Culture Initiative.
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You can play a role in the historic expansion of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden by making a gift to support the project.
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Relive the excitement of the grand opening of the Besthoff Sculpture Garden expansion in May 2019.
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Bronze
Pablo Casals’s Obelisk, a towering accumulation of welded bronze cellos, dominates the waters of a lagoon in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Standing over twenty feet tall, the Obelisk, built in homage to the world-renowned Spanish-Puerto Rican cellist and human rights activist Pablo Casals, is an imposing example of monumental sculpture by French-born artist Arman.
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art offers detailed entries on 64 artworks in the original 2003 garden, as well as a bibliography and overview of the garden’s founding. 192 pages, hardcover. Edited by Miranda Lash. $49.95
PRODUCER`S CHOICE FILM SERIES: ARTISTS ON FILM 🎨🎥💫
The Producer`s Choice Film Series is BACK at @neworleansmuseumofart this October and November! Join award-winning film producer @merylposter and special guests in NOMA`s Lapis Center for the Arts for this next installment in the series, "Artists on Film."
Check out the dates and titles for the next three Producer`s Choice screenings:
🎟️ Wednesday, 10/29 at 7 pm: "Frida" (2002), with director Julie Taymor (in person)
🎟️ Wednesday, 11/12 at 7 pm: "Pollock" (2000), with Meryl Poster and a special guest
🎟️ Friday, 11/14 at 7 pm: "Basquiat" (1996), with director Julian Schnabel (via Zoom)
🔗 Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for general admission. A member presale will go live TOMORROW, 10/7 at 12 pm. View all the events and access the member presale for each at the link in our bio.
📝 Member presale tickets are limited to 2 per person for each screening. All remaining tickets will be available to the general public at the link in our bio on Thursday, 10/9, at 12 pm.
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Papers and pens and poems, oh my! ✍️🌸🏛️
On Saturday, October 25, at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm, we invite young artists to the next Studio KIDS! workshop at @neworleansmuseumofart.
In this workshop, "Haiku and Origami," kids and teens will:
📄 Write their own original haiku (a traditional form of Japanese poetry)
🪭 Create origami envelopes to store their poems in as a keepsake
🖼️ Explore Japanese artworks in the third floor Gitter Gallery, as well as works on view across the museum, to gather inspiration for their own creations
The 10:30 am workshop is designed for artists ages 6-10, while the 12:30 pm workshop is designed for artists ages 11-14.
🔗 Register TODAY at the link in our bio. Registration is $25 for members and $30 for other participants. Advance registration is required and includes the price of all art-making materials.
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📸: @cristarockphoto
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Do you hear that? That’s the sound of Japan Fest coming your way 🥁🇯🇵🏛️
Next Saturday, October 11, from 11 am to 4 pm join us at @neworleansmuseumofart for our annual celebration of Japanese art, culture, and cuisine.
Just some of this year’s participants include @japanclubnola, @mbflynagasaki, @ajuncajunno, @candymixmaids, @mintymixshop, @mikineworleans, @nozentemple, @nola.aikido.community, @japansocietynola, and so many more!
🎟️ Tickets are $10, $5 for museum members, and free for attendees 19 and under. Available now at NOMA.ORG
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ON VIEW: "The Sentinel, Bryce Canyon Utah" by Laura Gilpin 📸⛰️
Gilpin became well-known across her career for photographs of the American Southwest and the Indigenous peoples of the region. The work featured here, titled “The Sentinel, Bryce Canyon Utah,” showcases Gilpin’s considerable skill at the platinum printing process, which enabled her to render the jagged surfaces of the rocks with delicate tones and soft lines.
The “Sentinel” of the title refers to the famous rock formation at the image`s center; this formation unfortunately collapsed in 2016 due to the effects of ice and erosion. In this way, Gilpin`s photograph is not only a technical feat, but also a matter-of-fact record of the slow and unrelenting changes of geology.
This work is currently on view in the exhibition “The View from Here: Women Photographers of the American Landscape.” See it now through January 4, 2026 at @neworleansmuseumofart
🖼️ Curious about the other works in this exhibition? Check out the link in our bio.
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🎨: Laura Gilpin (American, 1891-1979), "The Sentinel, Bryce Canyon Utah"
1930. Platinum print. Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant
📍: Second floor, Pailet Gallery
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Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special weekend celebrating the opening of the exhibition "Dawoud Bey: Elegy" at @neworleansmuseumofart 🩵 Special thanks to @dawoudbey and @casseloliver for joining us at the museum for three great days of events and programs.
"Dawoud Bey: Elegy" is on view now through January 4, 2026.
🤔 Still haven`t gotten the chance to view the exhibition? Stay up-to-date on upcoming programs and events related to "Elegy" at the link in our bio.
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📸 : @wayanbarre
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BOTD in 1941: Joel Shapiro (1941-2025)
Shapiro`s dynamic style grants his body of work a clear signature while remaining abstract enough for viewers to envision various kinds of bodies in motion in his works.
In the catalogue for his 1982 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art, Shapiro states that "...it is important that a convincing piece of sculpture could be put together so simply and be figurative without having to get involved with literally describing human movement, but rather it describes one`s idea of movement or one`s internal feeling of movement."
Looking for ways to get in motion this weekend? Stop by the Besthoff Sculpture Garden and check out Shapiro`s "Untitled" (1991), among 99 other incredible sculptures.
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🎨: Joel Shapiro (American, 1941-2025), "Untitled" (1991). Bronze, 84 x 125 x 54 in. Museum purchase, Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Fund, 1998. 98.213.
📍: Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
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We’re making continual changes to bring all of our engaging digital offerings to the forefront of our website. We invite you to keep coming back for new content and exciting updates!
Discover artworks, collections, and stories in a digital format from NOMA like never before.
