Inspired by the act of translation—the way meaning can shift across contexts of cultures—Caroline Kent’s paintings contain secret codes and hidden messages. Painted against black backdrops, the shapes in her paintings are often inspired by architecture, foreign languages, and film. She thinks of her compositions almost like musical scores, dance, choreography, or scripts; a way of imagining new ways of  moving through the world. Read More

Enrique Alférez (1901–99) was a Mexican artist who lived and worked in New Orleans and whose artistry is admired worldwide. Symbols of Communication is a large-scale, bas-relief mural sculpted by Alférez that was originally created for the New Orleans Times-Picayune Building in 1967, then acquired by NOMA in 2020. The mural celebrates the diversity of human culture and our shared desire to tell stories, communicate, and connect with one another through language and symbols. Read More

New Orleans-born artist Ida Kohlmeyer began her life as an artist at age 37 when she took her first painting class. She created a unique pictorial language with playful combinations of line, color, and shape. Working in a variety of media including paint and pastels, Kohlmeyer also translated her personal glyphs into stacked aluminum sculptures, often titled Rebus. A rebus is a riddle. what do you make of this one? Read More

Explore line, color, and shape as you create a mixed-media work inspired by pioneering abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky. Read More