Entry No. 25 — the New Orleans file — filed under: outdoor
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA
An ~11-acre walkable sculpture garden behind the New Orleans Museum of Art, threading roughly 90 to 100 works among 200-year-old live oaks, two lagoons, and an arcing boardwalk over constructed cypress islands. A 2019 expansion doubled its size, adding 6.5 acres. Admission to the garden is free and it is open seven days a week, so it reads more like a strange enchanted park than a museum.
The story
Most museum outdoor spaces feel like sterile, manicured pedestals dropped onto manicured turf. Behind the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Besthoff Sculpture Garden does something far stranger: it hides roughly ninety to one hundred high-art sculptures inside an eleven-acre swamp ecosystem—and you don't even need a museum ticket to wander in. You navigate two murky lagoons and cross arcing boardwalks built over constructed cypress islands, while massive contemporary bronzes and abstract forms stare back from beneath two-hundred-year-old live oaks.
A 2019 expansion doubled the site's footprint, tacking on six and a half acres across the water to reach its current eleven-acre footprint. Because admission is completely free and the gates are open seven days a week, the garden reads less like a sanitized gallery and more like an enchanted, slightly off-kilter public trail. You're here to watch high-concept art wrestle with humid South Louisiana wilderness—precision-engineered steel and bronze sitting inches from sunbathing turtles, duckweed, and heavy Spanish moss.
What it's like
Arrive at golden hour when the low sun slants through the oak canopy and hits the lagoon boardwalks. The atmosphere is quiet, open-ended, and slightly surreal; with no enforced walking route, you can wander at your own pace and search for the most unsettling figures hidden behind gnarled oak trunks. Because it costs nothing and stays open daily, you will share the paths with local strollers and wildlife, but the double-sized layout offers plenty of quiet corners to slip away into. Be sure to confirm daily opening hours before you head out.
The move: Wander the lagoon boardwalks at golden hour and race to find the most unsettling sculpture hidden among the oaks.
- 📍 City Park / Mid-City
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1 Collins Diboll Cir, New Orleans, LA 70124
Hours: Added 2026-06-22 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Singing Oak — A two-minute walk deeper into City Park trades contemporary museum bronzes for a single 125-year-old live oak hung with massive, blacked-out wind chimes.
- Bayou St. John / Magnolia Bridge (Cabrini Bridge) — Head half a mile east out of the park to cross the historic iron bridge over Bayou St. John where Marie Laveau’s followers once gathered.
- Holt Cemetery — Contrast these sleek, museum-curated monuments with a short trip to an 1879 potter's field where families hand-built their own improvised grave markers.
Good to know
Is admission to the Besthoff Sculpture Garden free?
Yes, entering and exploring the entire 11-acre sculpture garden is completely free to the public.
Where is the garden located?
It sits directly behind the New Orleans Museum of Art at 1 Collins Diboll Circle, inside City Park / Mid-City.
How many sculptures are installed in the garden?
The garden features roughly 90 to 100 works set along lagoon boardwalks, cypress islands, and live oak groves.
What are the hours for the sculpture garden?
The garden is open seven days a week, typically from 10 am to 6 pm, though visitors should confirm current hours before heading over.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · neworleanscitypark.org · reedhilderbrand.com · myneworleans.com
last checked: 2026-06-22