The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden occupies approximately five 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. The garden design creates outdoor viewing spaces within this picturesque landscape. A reconfigured lagoon bisects the site and creates two distinct halves: a mature pine and magnolia grove adjacent to the museum, and a more open area of 200-year-old, Spanish moss-laden live oaks across the lagoon near the New Orleans Botanical Gardens. The Sculpture Garden has grown from its inception in 2003 to include 64 sculptures, most of them donated to NOMA by the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation.
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden is home to over 60 sculptures by renowned artists from around the world.
Sculpture Garden Hours
The Sculpture Garden is open 7 days a week with free admission.
Summer Hours | April 1 – September 30 | 10 am – 6 pm
Winter Hours | October 1 – March 31 | 10 am – 5 pm
Closed Endymion Saturday, Lundi Gras, Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Mobile Guide
NOMA offers a Mobile Guide of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, accessible through your own cell phone. The tour is available free of charge. Get the guide here.
Learn More about the Garden
For more information on the sculptures and history of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, please see these two fully illustrated publications, both of which are available for purchase in the NOMA Museum Shop:
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art offers detailed entries on 64 artworks in the garden, as well as a bibliography and overview of the garden’s history. 192 pages, hardcover. Edited by Miranda Lash.
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art: Artspaces offers an overview of the garden’s history and themes. 64 pages, softcover. By Miranda Lash.