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.
WATCH
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
ARTIST BIRTHDAY | Robert Mapplethorpe
Known perhaps most widely for his incredible photographs highlighting the New York City S&M scene of the 1970s, the Queens-born photographer Robert Mapplethorpe had a special relationship to New Orleans during a critical moment in his artistic career.
Mapplethorpe was introduced to his mentor and friend George Dureau during the 70s by local art collector Dr. Russell Albright. Dureau (a celebrated New Orleanian photographer in his own right) and Mapplethorpe’s friendship resulted in a multi-year working relationship that had a lasting influence on each artist’s body of work.
A photograph of Mapplethorpe’s featuring and titled after Dureau (the standing figure in the right of the image) is now housed in the @neworleansmuseumofart’s permanent collection. Here, the photographer’s skill in capturing human forms in strikingly raw detail are clear; despite the subjects’s clear poses, each is captured with the liveliness and intrigue that spans across Mapplethorpe’s portraits.
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🎨: Robert Mapplethorpe, “George Dureau” (1982). Gelatin silver print, image: 13 7/8 in x 13 7/8 in. Purchased with funds provided by various donors, 2014.19
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Your Friday plans just got a major glow-up💡💚✨
LOVE in the Garden Presented by Frischhertz is this Friday, 11/7, in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden at @neworleansmuseumofart ! Experience the best of New Orleans cuisine, libations, art, and music at the return of this loved annual event.
🎫 Tickets for LOVE are available now at the link in our bio and at NOMA.org/LOVE
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Meryl Poster, Julie Taymor, and @neworleansmuseumofart: an iconic trio 👌
Thanks to everyone who joined us for last week`s kickoff of the Producer`s Choice Film Series` fall season, Artists on Film!
Don`t miss the next two screenings and post-viewing conversations in NOMA`s Lapis Center for the Arts:
🎟️ Wednesday, 11/14 at 7 pm: "Pollock" with Meryl Poster and a special guest
🎟️ Friday, 11/14 at 7 pm: "Basquiat" with Meryl Poster and director Julian Schnabel
🔗 Tickets are available now at the link in our bio
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Thank you to our Sponsors for LOVE in the Garden Presented by Frischhertz 👏💡💚
The return of LOVE in the Garden Presented by @frischhertzelectric to @neworleansmuseumofart is made possible by the support of our sponsors, event committee, entertainers, and more. We thank them for their generous support of this evening celebrating the best of New Orleans cuisine, libations, and culture in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.
🔗 Don`t forget to get your tickets for LOVE this Friday, November 7, at the link in our bio or by visiting NOMA.org/LOVE
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Happy NOMAween, everyone 🏛️🕸️🎃
Here’s some of our @neworleansmuseumofart team showing off their costumes, all inspired by current works on view. The museum is open until 5 pm today, so come check them out while you can!
Can you name the artworks these costumes are inspired by? All answers are in the comments below 👇️
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Japan Fest 2025 ❤️🇯🇵🤍
What an incredible day celebrating Japanese art, culture, and cuisine at @neworleansmuseumofart! Thank you again to all our event sponsors, participants, vendors, and visitors, including @japaninnashville and the Japan Club of New Orleans among many others, for making this year`s Japan Fest such a success.
We`ll see y`all again next year 👋👀
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📸: @katielarocca
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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.
