NOMA | New Orleans Museum of Art

Exactly ten years ago, NOMA opened the gates to an art oasis in City Park: the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden.

Over the last decade, residents and visitors alike have flocked to see over sixty examples of modern and contemporary art by some of the world’s most significant artists of the last two centuries.

In 2005, it was the Sculpture Garden that suffered significant damage after Hurricane Katrina. Kenneth Snelson’s Virlane Tower was unfortunately destroyed (and later reconstructed by the artist), and massive flooding almost decimated the Garden’s beautiful live oak trees, which have been there for centuries. Reopening the Garden after recovery became crucial, and since then it has blossomed into more than an outdoor gallery space—it is truly a locus for community engagement. Events like the NOMA Egg Hunt, outdoor film screenings, and our joint theater productions with the NOLA Project have been tremendously successful in bringing a cross-section of the community together for contemplation, celebration and inspiration. From Japan Fest to the Iris Fest, and even yoga and pilates classes—there is something for everyone to enjoy in the Garden. There are countless possibilities for this beautiful space, and we will continue to use it as inspiration for future program initiatives.

Each year we celebrate this unique space with LOVE in the Garden, an annual outdoor party and fundraiser. Attending this year’s LOVE will be a fitting way to commemorate this important milestone in the Garden’s history. I hope you will join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening.

Sydney and Walda Besthoff have graciously given NOMA and the city of New Orleans an incredible treasure in this Sculpture Garden. It is rare to encounter a sculpture garden with a collection of works as distinguished as those found in the five-acre garden. That it is open and available to the public every day, free of charge is a great gift to the city. I am thrilled to see the families and children that visit the Sculpture Garden daily. If you have never visited, I encourage you to do so this summer.

If you prefer indoor activities on hot summer days, we have many exciting happenings inside our building proper. Our Great Hall exhibition this year features Rashaad Newsome, a New Orleans native now based in New York. Newsome’s first solo exhibition in Louisiana, King of Arms is the third in a series of annual site-specific installations in the Great Hall, preceded by exhibitions by Swoon and Katie Holten.

On Fridays, we’re always busy with late night events, including the popular “Art You Can Eat” cooking demonstrations in Café NOMA. This summer, Ralph Brennan’s chefs are using Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939 as culinary inspiration. Each demonstration will focus on the cuisine from a different region of the world, all in celebration of the legacy of world’s fairs.

Later this summer, an exhibition of works by Gordon Parks will open in the second floor Templeman Galleries. It presents a nuanced, complex assessment of Parks’ work as a documentary photographer and his role in the development of photography. Arguably one of the most important African-American photographers of the twentieth century, his body of work establishes him as one of photojournalism’s greatest talents. I look forward to welcoming you to NOMA this summer.