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
REGISTER NOW: Summer Art Camp at @neworleansmuseumofart ☀️🎨⛺️
Already making your summer plans? Add NOMA`s Summer Art Camp to your calendar! Designed for artists ages 5-12, campers will:
✅️ Explore 5,000 years of art through NOMA`s permanent collection, special exhibitions, and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden?
✅️ Engage in a variety of artistic mediums and activities, including drawing, painting, movement, sculpture, and more
✅️ Celebrate and show off their work with each other at the end of each weeklong camp session
4 sessions of Summer Art Camp will take place between June and July:
🗓️ Monday, 6/15 – Thursday, 6/18 (no camp on Friday, 6/19)
🗓️ Monday, 6/22 – Friday, 6/26
🗓️ Monday, 7/6 – Friday, 7/10
🗓️ Monday, 7/13 – Friday, 7/17
🔗 Register and learn more at the link in our bio
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BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT: Peter Voulkos 🪴⬇️🎨
Voulkos`s willingness to destabilize conventions of ceramic working technique helped him become one of the most important ceramic artists of the 20th century. "`Big Ed` Stacked Pot" seen here on view at @neworleansmuseumofart, shows just how expressive and subversive Voulkos`s work can be: by (literally) turning pottery`s traditional techniques and vessels upside down, "`Big Ed`" shows viewers the power of learning the rules of the trade in order to challenge them.
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🎨: Peter Voulkos, "`Big Ed` Stacked Pots," 1994. Museum purchase with funds donated by E. John Bullard in memory of Robert H. Cousins, 2016.59, © Voulkos Family Trust
📍: New Orleans Museum of Art, second floor
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Have you ever noticed Jean-Michel Othoniel`s "L’Arbre aux Colliers (Tree of Necklaces)" in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden?🪻🌲🌼
This work of Othoniel`s, a French artist known for site-specific installations across the globe, was commissioned by Sydney and Walda Besthoff in 2001 while the Besthoff Sculpure Garden was in its planning stages. The work features Othoniel`s signature freestanding strands of blown-glass beads, which were fabricated at a Murano, Italy glassworks.
All year long, "L’Arbre aux Colliers," reminds visitors of the bead-adorned trees found along the city`s many parade routes during Carnival season and the following weeks.
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🎨: Jean-Michel Othoniel, "L’Arbre aux Colliers (Tree of Necklaces)" (2002). Glass and stainless steel, 6 necklaces, 70 in. (each). Museum purchase, Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation and River Branch Foundation, 2002.290.1-6
📍: Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
📸: @joemanderton
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THIS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: "Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity" Member Preview + NOMA at Night Opening Celebration 🪩🎉🏛️
This Thursday, 1/29, @neworleansmuseumofart members are invited to a sneak preview of the exhibition "Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity" before it opens to the public on Friday, 1/30.
On Friday, 1/30, come out and celebrate the public opening of the exhibition at NOMA at Night, featuring live performances from Sunpie and The Louisiana Sunspots (@brucesunpiebarnes) and DJ Alan Aloha (@alanaloha); wire sculpture art-making for all ages; special discounts on the exhibition catalog at the NOMA Museum Shop; light bites, cocktails, and mocktails from @cafenoma; and so much more.
🌟 Did you know: for this NOMA at Night, LA educators can access member pricing for their tickets with presentation of their school ID. These tickets must be purchased at the doors of the event.
🔗 Grab your NOMA at Night tickets and learn more at the link in our bio
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📸: @wayanbarre, @angelo._
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It`s the age (okay, ~season~) of Aquarius in the @neworleansmuseumofart`s Besthoff Sculpture Garden 🧠♒️🌬️
The second-to-last sign in the tropical zodiac, Aquarians strikes a balance between Gemini`s unending creativity and Libra`s love for structure and order. While modern astrologers cite Uranus as Aquarius`s ruling planet, traditional Hellenistic astrologers understand Saturn as the air sign`s ruler.
Future-oriented, innovative, and deeply intellectual, Aquarians are your go-to friend for all-things creative, helping you pursue your most wild ideas with confidence and direction. (And don`t get worried if they don`t answer your texts right away: their phone is likely on DND 😴🌙)
Aquarians, what are your favorite spots in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden?
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🎨: George Rickey, "Four Open Rectangles" (1978). Stainless steel. Gift of The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, installation funded by Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries, 2018.18
🎨: Kenneth Snelson, "Virlane Tower" (1981). Stainless steel. 540 x 162 x 162 in (1371.6 x 411.48 x 411.48 cm). Gift of The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, 98.148
🎨: Yaacov Agam, "Open Space," (1970). Stainless steel. 108 x 96 x 96 in (274.32 x 243.84 x 243.84 cm). Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, 98.127
🎨: Minoru Niizuma, "Castle of the Eye, II." Marble, 112 x 25 x 25 in (284.48 x 63.5 x 63.5 cm). Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, 98.143
🎨: Linda Howard, "Sunyatta" (1979). Brushed aluminum, ed. 4/18. 00 x 72 x 102 in (254 x 182.88 x 259.08 cm). Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, 2000.208
🎨: Bernar Venet, "11 Acute Uneven Angles" (2016). Cor-ten steel, 97 5/8 x 169 1/4 x 47 5/8 inches. Museum purchase with funds provided by Sydney and Walda Besthoff, 2016.132
📸, first slide: @beckysfotos
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Last week, author and journalist Boyce Upholt (@boyceu) joined us for an excellent gallery talk connecting his work in “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi” with the works on view in the exhibition “Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed.”
Watch this short clip of Upholt discussing the vast reach of the watershed in relation to Aldo Leopold’s essay “Thinking Like a Mountain” and the interconnection of all life forms 🏔️🌊🌞
Curious about @neworleansmuseumofart’s weekly gallery talks on Wednesdays? Join us next week on 1/28 for a 12:30 pm gallery talk hosted by Lisa Rotondo-McCord, Deputy Director and Curator of Asian Art at NOMA.
(Plus, LA residents receive free admission to NOMA every Wednesday, courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative.)
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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.
