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
THIS FRIDAY 
Get ready for NOMA at Night on April 4, 6–9 pm, as we celebrate the opening of “New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations”!
Featuring
After hours access to the exhibition and gallery talks led by artists, curators, and collaborators
Dancing to music selected by DJ Ojay of @afrobeatnola and @cestfunk
Artmaking for all ages
Specialty cocktail and happy hour menu from @cafenoma inspired by the exhibition
Click the webpage in our bio to learn more or drop a 
emoji in the comments and we’ll DM you the link to purchase tickets.
—
: “Kimi” masquerade ensemble in honor of André Sanou’s “Qui Dit Mieux?,” 2022 (headpiece by David Sanou in the studio of André Sanou; the maker of the body requests anonymity). Collection of the Fitchburg Art Museum. Photo courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art.
In this portrait of Marie Antoinette by Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, every object has a meaning, including the flowers. 
Painted in 1788 as the calls for revolution grew loud, Le Brun’s monumental portrait presents her friend sympathetically, with details meant to both elevate the monarchy and humanize the deeply controversial queen of France.
Artists have often included floral bouquets in portraits of women to symbolize femininity and fertility, and here the prominent placement next to the French crown is a reminder of the queen’s role to deliver an heir to the French monarchy.
The artist lavishes attention on the flower bouquet giving accurate details to the pale pink peonies, red carnations and a lavender hyacinth. Marie Antoinette’s hand gestures toward a spray of flowers on the table, perhaps suggesting that we’ve just intruded on the queen herself arranging the vase.
Click the link in our bio to learn more about the symbolism in this portrait in a @nolanews article by Mel Buchanan, NOMA`s RosaMary Curator of Decorative Arts and Design.
—: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, "Portrait of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France," c. 1788. Oil on canvas. Museum Purchase: Women’s Volunteer Committee and Carrie Heiderich Fund, 85.90.
: Second floor, Armande Billion Gallery
ON VIEW THROUGH SUNDAY 
Showstopping floral displays have taken over all three floors of the museum for Art in Bloom Presented by First Horizon Bank!
One of the most anticipated springtime events in New Orleans, Art in Bloom showcases spectacular floral designs created by garden clubs, floral designers, and creative talents from New Orleans and beyond.
Your support through Art in Bloom provides critical resources for both NOMA’s educational initiatives and exhibitions and the Garden Study Club of New Orleans’s community grants program.
Click the link in our bio to learn more.
—: @piquebypk: Country Club Home Gardeners: @pameladennisneworleans: @sosusuboutique: Richard Cranford, Sogetsu: @judyattherink: Lakeview Botany Guild: Hammond Garden Club: Eden House New Orleans: Susan Vanderkuy, Sogetsu
Music in the Garden (or in this case, the front of the museum) with @markcolemanfunkblues on the Piano Truck 
Music in the Garden with @brettgardnermusic and the @cigarboxserenaders 
SILENT AUCTION IS NOW OPEN 
Bid now on original works—including a featured painting by @saskiaozols—and one-of-a-kind experiences in support of Art in Bloom Presented by First Horizon Bank!
Swipe to browse works by: Saskia Ozols @jamesmichalopoulos @friendandcompany @huntslonem @harounigallery I. Ozols saragooteeart Tim Trapolin @visitnatchez @demondmatsuo
One of the most anticipated springtime events in New Orleans, Art in Bloom Presented by First Horizon Bank showcases spectacular floral designs created by garden clubs, floral designers, and creative talents from New Orleans and beyond.
Funds raised during Art in Bloom support NOMA and the Garden Study Club of New Orleans.
Click the link in our bio to see all works and place your bids today.
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.
