New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), the city’s oldest fine arts institution, opened on December 16, 1911 with only nine works of art. Today, the museum hosts an impressive permanent collection of more than 40,000 objects.

The collection, noted for its extraordinary strengths in French and American art, photography, glass, and African and Japanese works, continues to expand and grow, making NOMA one of the top art museums in the South.

The museum has a wonderful place to eat, Café NOMA by Ralph Brennan features a delicious array of artisanal flatbreads, sandwiches, salads and veggie bowls alongside an artful assortment of freshly baked breads and sweets inside a show-stopping pastry case.

Blurring the lines between refreshment retreat and gallery space, this stellar venue features a dramatic installation of vessels for food and drink from the museum’s permanent collection, designed in collaboration with the curatorial team.

The twelve-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA is one of the most important sculpture installations in the United States, with over 90 sculptures situated on a beautifully landscaped site among meandering footpaths, reflecting lagoons, Spanish moss-laden 200-year-old live oaks, mature pines, magnolias, camellias, and pedestrian bridges.

The museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–5 pm.

The Sculpture Garden is free and open to the public seven days a week. Donations are appreciated.

Summer Hours (April–October): 10 am–6 pm
Winter Hours (November–March): 10 am–5 pm

Please note: pets, food, picnicking, and bikes are not permitted in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.