Taylor Scholars Family Day honors Louisiana educators and Taylor Scholars with free admission to NOMA and a daylong schedule of teen and family-oriented events, including tours of the museum and Besthoff Sculpture Garden, hands-on art activities, and a DJ spinning danceable music.

All Day: Educator Appreciation Day — educators are welcome to NOMA with free admission

11 am | Teen-guided tour of sculpture garden expansion: Join members of our Teen Squad as they take Taylor Scholars though the newly expanded Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Now home to more than 90 sculptures, the diverse character of the landscape features several newly commissioned works. Contemporary 21st-century sculptures inspired by the physical environment are located in the open lawn, under tree canopies, across open water, on cypress islands, and within understory planting.

11 am – 2 pm | DJ Chicken Wing in the Great Hall

11 am – 3 pm | Activity Tables: Teens and local artists will lead a variety of activities throughout Taylor Scholars Day.

• Decorating Mirrors | Elevator Lobby: Participants will decorate mirror compacts with rhinestones and flowers.
• Beadwork | Elevator Lobby: From bracelets to anklets, eventgoers can make their own jewelry to take home.
• Collective Banner | Great Hall: Visitors can add their work to our group banner, including text and pictures.

11 am – 2 pm | Food Trucks will be located at the circle drive fronting NOMA’s entrance. Café NOMA will also be open.

12 pm | Docent-guided tour of the Besthoff Sculpture Garden expansion.

1 pm | Guided tour of permanent collection and temporary exhibitions: A trained docent will give visitors of all ages a thought-provoking experience through the collection and exhibitions currently on view, including You Are Here, a photography exhibition that explores photography’s complicated relationship to the places it represents, the places in which it is created, and the places in which we experience it.

1:45 pm | Precious Jewels Performance Squad will present an original performance to Before I Let Go.

2 pm | Teen-guided tour of Bodies of Knowledge: Teen Squad members will bring visitors through NOMA’s major exhibition, Bodies of Knowledge, on view through October 13. This exhibition brings together eleven international contemporary artists to reflect on the role that language plays in archiving and asserting our cultural identities. Working with materials that range from books and silent film to ink, ashes, and musical scores, these artists counter more staid and static ways of representing our collective pasts.

For more information about NOMA’s Teen Squad, visit this link.

The Taylor/New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) Scholars Program provides students a chance to experience the collections of the region’s preeminent fine arts institution as an award for their academic excellence.  The Patrick F. Taylor Foundation established the Taylor/NOMA Scholars Program through a $360,000 endowment designed to guarantee the program in perpetuity. All public, private, and parochial students who complete the school year with at a 2.5 grade point average and above are eligible to receive a free one-year membership to the New Orleans Museum of Art. Parents or guardians may accompany students free of charge.