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
Winter is almost here ❄️🕰️💫 Take note of the @neworleansmuseumofart and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden`s upcoming holiday hours when you`re planning your visit.
Holiday Hours (museum and sculpture garden):
Wednesday, December 24 | 10 am - 3 pm
Wednesday, December 31 | 10 am - 3 pm
Closures (museum and sculpture garden):
Thursday, December 25
Thursday, January 1
We can`t promise you snow this time around, but we can promise you a full slate of stunning exhibitions, programs, and more through 2025 and into 2026 🏛️📅🎨
🔗 Check NOMA.org or the link in our bio for the latest updates
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📸: Sesthasak Boonchai, January 2025
🎨: Sean Scully, "Stacked Frames" (2017). Stainless steel with automotive paint. 304.8 x 243.84 x 243.84 cm (120 x 96 x 96 in). Museum purchase with funds provided by Sydney and Walda Besthoff. 2017.192
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What`s happening this December at @neworleansmuseumofart? 🤔💭🏛️
Here`s just some of the exciting programs and events you can look forward to this December:
🦋 Sunday, 12.7: Butterfly Music Series featuring Lawrence Sieberth
🎟️ Wednesday, 12.10 "Chasing the Light" Documentary Screening and Q&A with NOMA`s Freeman Family Curator of Photographs, Prints, and Drawings Brian Piper and Joshua Mann Pailet
🖼️ Saturday, 12.13: Studio KIDS! Exploring Printmaking workshops (at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm)
🎶 Sunday, 12.14: Music in the Garden featuring Coralai and James Andrews and the Crescent City All Stars
🎟️: Thursday, 12.18: "Hollow Tree" Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion with the film`s leading subjects, moderated by NOMA’s Community Engagement Coordinator Kimbrielle Boult
🧑🔬 Wednesday, 12.17: Science Meets Art with NOMA and the American Geophysical Union
🔗 Register for + learn more about these events, plus see even more upcoming programs, at the link in our bio
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Oh nothing, just a stroll through some of the wonderful works now on view in “Afropolitan: Contemporary African Arts at @neworleansmuseumofart” 😌🌍🎨
Don’t miss this fantastic exhibition of contemporary works by African artists from the museum’s permanent collection.
Psst: don’t forget that admission to NOMA is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative 🗓️✍️
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THIS WEDNESDAY, 12/3: Elders Sacred Talk with Spyboy Ricky Getteridge, moderated by Nana Sula Evans 🏛️🗣️🎉
On Wednesday, 12/3, at 5:30 pm, join us in NOMA`s Lapis Center for the Arts for this year`s final installment in the Elders Sacred Talk Series. Spyboy Ricky Getteridge will be joined by moderator Nana Sula Evans for a discussion of his life and work in the New Orleans Black Masking Indian community.
Come out to celebrate Spyboy Ricky and the Black Masking Indian Tradition for 2025`s final program in this incredible conversation series.
🎟️ This program is included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday courtesy of The Helis Foundation`s Art for All Initiative.
🔗 Learn more at the link in our bio
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Museum Store Sunday and a free @neworleansmuseumofart tote bag, anyone? 🛍️👜💫
Today, from 10 AM to 5 PM, stop by the NOMA Museum Shop for Museum Store Sunday deals! All regular priced, in-store purchases are 15% off (20% off for members)—plus, get a free NOMA tote bag with your purchase of $100+.
🔗 Don’t know where to start? Check out the NOMA Museum Shop holiday gift guide at the link in bio.
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Just some reading for your Wednesday, courtesy of @neworleansmuseumofart 📖💫🧐
While some might associate illuminated manuscripts (manuscripts which feature illustrations of the texts they contain or other decorative illustrations) or textual illuminations, broadly, with the European Middle Ages, the creation of these textual artworks did not necessarily cease with the introduction of the printing press in the mid-15th century.
This work, found in NOMA’s Indian arts gallery and dating to around 1700 C.E., visualizes the contents of chapter 10, verse 8 of the “Bhagavata Purana,” also known as the “Ancient Stories of Lord Vishnu.”
In this verse, Garga Muni (a Hindu sage) tells the story of how he named two of the Hindu god Vishnu’s godly manifestations: Balarama and Krishna. The former god can be found sitting in his mother’s lap in the open pavilion depicted in the far left of the image.
The text related to Balarama (seen written across the top of this work) can be translated as follows: “Garga Muni said: ‘this child, the son of Rohini, will give all happiness to His relatives and Friends by his transcendental qualities. Therefore, He will be known as Rama. And because he will manifest extraordinary bodily strength He will also be known as Bala. Moreover, because He unites two families—Vasudeva’s family and the family of Nanda Maharaja—He will be known as Sankarsana.’”
This work is just one example of the overlaps between artistic and literary histories, and helps us consider the history of textual production at the global scale.
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🎨: India, Rajasthan, Mewar, Udaipur, c. 1725. “The Naming Ceremony for Krishna and Balarama” from a “Bhagawata Purana” series. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Gift of Robert Del Bonta, 2021.83.
📍: Third floor, Indian arts gallery
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Discover artworks, collections, and stories in a digital format from NOMA like never before.
