The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA
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. Conceived in 2003, the Besthoff Sculpture Garden doubled in size in 2019 and has grown from its inception to include more than 90 sculptures, most of them donated to NOMA by the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation.
The Besthoff Sculpture Garden is free and open to the public seven days a week. Guided tours are offered Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays at noon.
The six-acre addition features 27 new works by artists working primarily in the 21st century. Artists featured in the expansion include Larry Bell, Tony Cragg, Johan Creten, Katharina Fritsch, Frank Gehry, Jeppe Hein, Georg Herold, Thomas Houseago, Shirazeh Houshiary, Baltasar Lobo, Robert Longo, Gerold Miller, Beverly Pepper, Pedro Reyes, George Rickey, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Sean Scully, Yinka Shonibare, Frank Stella, Hank Willis Thomas, Bernar Venet, and Fred Wilson. Three works were commissioned for the site: a 60-foot-long mosaic wall by artist Teresita Fernández, a glass bridge by Elyn Zimmerman, and an installation by Maya Lin inside the Sculpture Pavilion.
Click here to access a map of the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.
Watch a video from the grand opening ceremony of the Besthoff Sculpture Garden expansion.
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden is home to over 90 sculptures by renowned artists from around the world.
Sculpture Garden Hours
Alert: The Sculpture Garden will be closed from Friday, October 25 through Sunday, October 27, as City Park hosts the Voodoo Arts + Music Experience.
The Sculpture Garden is open 7 days a week with free admission. On Tuesdays the Sculpture Pavilion is closed for maintenance.
Winter Hours | October 1 – March 31 | 10 am – 5 pm
Summer Hours | April 1 – September 30 | 10 am – 6 pm
Closed Endymion Saturday, Lundi Gras, Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Mobile Guide
NOMA offers a free mobile guide and audio tour of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, accessible through your own cell phones. To access the web-based tour please visit our Mobile Guide.
Learn More about the Garden
For more information on the sculptures and history of the original 2003 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 original 2003 garden, as well as a bibliography and overview of the garden’s founding. 192 pages, hardcover. Edited by Miranda Lash. $49.95
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art: Artspaces offers an overview of the garden’s 2003 founding and themes. 64 pages, softcover. By Miranda Lash. $7.95