Friday Nights at NOMA opens the museum’s doors for many interesting activities throughout the year: live music, movies, children’s activities, and more. Regular admission prices apply—NOMA members are FREE—but there is no extra charge for programs or films. All galleries, Café NOMA, and the Museum Shop remain open till 9 pm.

• 5 – 8 pm: Art on the Spot family activity table
• 5:30 – 8:30 pm: Music by Abita Stumps
• 6 pm: Artful Palate cooking demonstration in Café NOMA
• 6 pm: Docent-guided tour of Changing Course: Reflections on New Orleans Histories
• 7 pm: Picturing Us Film Series: Screening of The Sons of Tennessee Williams

ABOUT THE ABITA STUMPS

The Abita Stumps bill themselves as “a band of mother-stumpin’ swampy-tonk cats.” The country-music quintet are regular fixtures at the Abita Springs Opry and festivals across Southeast Louisiana. Their foot-stomping tunes include “Liquored Up and Lacquered Down,” “Mississippi Mud,” “Highway Patrol,” and “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down.”

ABOUT ARTFUL PALATE COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS

Chefs of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group will demonstrate their own culinary masterpieces at Café NOMA’s “Artful Palate,” the seventh annual summer cooking series featuring seven artfully inspired demonstrations at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

In conjunction with the launch of NOMA’s exhibition Changing Course: Reflecting on New Orleans Histories, the talented executive chefs and sous chefs will share their culinary vision by commemorating the past and looking to the future by offering a contemporary twist on iconic New Orleans dishes.

This evening, Knut Mjelde, sous chef of Ralph’s on the Park, will prepare shrimp remoulade.

ABOUT THE SONS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

The Sons of Tennessee Williams tells the story of New Orleans gay Mardi Gras across five decades and explores the intersection of Carnival and the gay rights movement. Starting in 1959, groups of gay men began discreetly to charter social clubs called krewes, transforming the momentary license and briefly relaxed laws during Mardi Gras into public explosions of an underground culture. Documentarian Tim Wolff parallels these elaborate tableaux balls with the emerging struggle for gay rights in New Orleans and the nation, chronicling an important social history that has gone largely untold. (2011 | Not rated | 1 hour, 20 minutes)

Friday Nights at NOMA is supported in part by grant funds from the Azby Fund; Ruby K. Worner Charitable Trust; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation; and the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council.