New Orleans Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries New Orleans museums supplies classes your area

Art in New Orleans will be covered in full detail for you today and our opening section will discuss the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

If you are after any specific section you can jump straight to it using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a New Orleans art map with all of the various places we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

You may want to read some of our other posts on cities around the Southeast.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In New Orleans

If you want to check out the best art galleries and museums in New Orleans then head to:

The oldest fine arts museum in town is the New Orleans Museum of Art which has gathered a collection of over 40,000 objects that span across 5,000 years. They are open from 10am to 5pm every day but Monday when they are closed and have a great collection of both European and American art with works by Picasso, Renoir, Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Degas among hundreds more.

The exhibits at the Contemporary Arts Center rotate throughout the year with all kinds of art on display from paintings to photography to sculptures and even performances like dance, music, and more which you can check out from 11am to 5pm except for Tuesday when they are closed. On Sundays Louisiana residents get in free and children and students up through high school always get in free. You may also want to head over on the first Saturday of each August for their great Hancock Whitney White Linen Night.

You can find over 8,000 pieces in the collection at Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane who has art educational programs with many lessons, lectures, family activities, and studio demonstrations that are all free of charge and they are open from 10am to 5pm Monday through Friday and from 11am to 4pm on Saturday.

Visit the New Orleans African American Museum on the third Saturday of each month between lunch and dinner for a fun event but outside of that they keep regular hours from 11am to 4pm Wednesday through Sunday.

Not only are there cool works on display at Gallery Orange but they also sell paintings in your area from local and national artists from noon to 5pm Thursday through Sunday.

The Call For Artists event at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery is an International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art and the grand prize winner gets their own solo exhibition at the gallery which is open from 10am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday.

Over 80,000 people visit the Ogden Museum of Southern Art each year to see all kinds of stuff like unique exhibitions, lectures, concerts, and more from 10am to 5pm daily. They also offer some of the best art education programs near you including workshops and summer camps for all ages.

All of the exhibitions, lectures, and workshops at Diboll Art Gallery are free to see from 10am to 4pm most days except on Sunday when they open at noon.

Garrett Haab Artistry has a nice sculpture exhibition plus they can create custom sculptures for collectors and businesses.

Materials & Supplies Near You

The best places to buy art supplies and materials in your area are:

Anyone who wants to improve their skills can also try the art classes at New Orleans Art Supply which can be done in their store in one day, one weekend, or over the course of 8 weeks and obviously they sell a ton of supplies too.

David Art Center is one of the largest drafting and art supply stores near you and they are happy to do custom framing, rent out high-quality easels, and do in-store lessons.

Mo’s Art Supply and Michaels both can do custom framing.

Shows & Events

There are some great art shows and events in this town like:

Remember earlier we told you about the third Saturday events at African American Museum that take place from 11am to 4pm which is free to enter and supports local black owned businesses in the community.

Arts Market New Orleans is another free event that goes down every second Saturday at City Park’s Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn from 9am to 3pm and you can expect there to be lots of art for sale and on display from regional artists.

Head to Magazine and Julia Streets on the first Saturday of each October for the Art for Art’s Sake event where you can hop from one gallery in your area to the next, enjoy the live music, and taste some delicious wine and food.

The first Saturday of each August the Hancock Whitney White Linen Night takes over Julia Street and the Warehouse and Arts District. There will be many people out displaying their latest works, food vendors, gallery openings, and more.

At the free Luna Fête festival in December the cities incredibly unique architecture is blended with contemporary lighting, video mapping tech, sounds, and motion graphics around the Central Business District and Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

When you are ready to find a new piece for your collection or when you want to know how much a piece is worth you can go to art dealers and appraisers near you like:

If you need art advice and consultations, collection management services, or appraisals you can head to Octavia Art Gallery.

Gallery Orange, Max Ryan Studio and Garrett Haab Artistry from our best local gallery list sell art too.

Walking Tours

In a town like this there are always cool things to see if you are walking in the right areas:

Nola Art Walk has tours across the city to see incredible street murals by Banksy and others making this is a great option for tourists who are new to the area and want to get a better lay of the land.

Don’t forget about the monthly Arts Market at the City Park’s Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores New Orleans lessons near you studios

You may also want to take pictures with these sculptures and statues in your area:

  • Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at 1 Collins Diboll Cir
  • Joan of Arc at Place de France, Decatur St
  • Ignatius J. Reilly Statue at 811 Canal St
  • Simon Bolivar Statue at Basin St
  • Big Chief Tootie at 1038 St Ann St
  • Louis Armstrong Statue at 701 N Rampart St
  • Travelers Sculptures at W Esplanade Ave & Power Blvd, Metairie
  • David Harouni Sculptures at Veterans Memorial Blvd & Severn Ave, Metairie

There are more than eleven acres in City Park containing more than 90 works at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden.

Joan of Arc has been in the French Market District since 1999.

Ever since 1957 the Simon Bolivar Statue has been up at the Garden of the Americas.

Elizabeth Catlett created the Louis Armstrong Statue which you can find in his park.

Deborah Master created the Travelers Sculptures which was installed along Esplanade Avenue in early 2008.

New Orleans Art Classes

Some of you may be interested in private lessons while others may want group classes for kids, teens, or adults but either way the best New Orleans art schools are:

The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts is a pre-professional arts training center that provides lessons in visual art, culinary arts, dance, media arts, music, theatre arts, and even creative writing. Every spring they have tuition free programs available by audition.

The only real requirement at New Orleans Academy Of Fine Arts is that the students must be 16 or older but all skill levels are welcome.

You can take fun lessons at Paint and Jrink or try one of their private parties.

There are free daily demonstrations, open-working studios, and more intensive local art classes for kids and adults at New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking.

Expect to find pottery classes for adults as well as open studios for all potters and sculptors at Posh Clay Pottery Studio where the tuition includes supplies, glaze, equipment, electric firing and of course the instructor.

Some other places we have listed throughout the post that provide classes near you are the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans Art Supply, and David Art Center.

Studios For Rent Near You

You can rent art studio space in your area at:

Posh Clay Pottery Studio from the art school list has studio space for rent.

Framing

A frame can transform a regular looking piece or picture to that next level and some of the best places for art framing in New Orleans are:

There are over a thousand different molding options for the custom framing at Magazine Street Framing plus they do great gift wrapping.

Uptown Frames can do complete photo restorations, custom digital printing, and professional picture hanging.

Frame City & Art Gallery ships their more than 2,000 frames to countries all around the globe plus they sell them locally.

Mo’s Art Supply, David Art Center, and Michaels from the art supplies list also do framing in your area.

Just so you know in the past we have also written about:

Have Fun Enjoying The New Orleans Art Scene

At the moment that is all we have to share about your art scene. We listed the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers that you may want to check out.

Those who are still reading this probably love art as much as we do. If so go ahead and use the comments to share your own tips or to let us know if you think we got anything wrong.

We hope you enjoy your time at the best New Orleans art galleries, museums, supply stores, or doing whatever else you plan to do with the info.

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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