A New Orleans Insider’s Quick Trip
In this month’s travelogue, ArtsvilleUSA founder Louise Glickman soaks up the sights, sounds, and tastes of her native New Orleans.
Most of you know I hail from New Orleans, so I visit often. Over many generations, I’ve seen and experienced changes, new events, and adventures for all creatives to enjoy and remember. Delight in this diary of places to visit, see, learn from, and enjoy my visual, virtual, and memorable adventures this spring. Book now for the fall, the most beautiful time of the year.
You won’t want to miss the Nov. 2 opening of Prospect 6, a citywide triennial of contemporary art that brings artists from all over the world to venues throughout the city. Led by founder and New Orleans native Susan Brennan and co-directed by Miranda Lash and Ebony G. Patterson, this year’s theme, The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home, provides a globally relevant point of departure for examining our collective future as it relates to climate change, colonialism, and community. The Future is Present runs through Feb. 2, 2025.
Outside of its food, New Orleans offers an outstanding variety of cultural flavors. My most recent visit included the following stops in just four days:
The Contemporary Arts Center
The Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans boldly exhibits top artists and includes excellent concerts and performances in an intimate show space.
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art recently added one of Jim McDowell’s Face Jugs to its collection. The museum is full of distinctive artists, both known and possibly new to those unfamiliar with Louisiana history. The Ogden is THE place to relish Southern art and artists.
The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience reveals a historically complex immigrant history significant to this city’s identity as one of America’s most culturally diverse cities. Stories of Jewish resettlement add to New Orleans's rich vibrancy and encourage a new understanding of identity, diversity, and acceptance.
The World War II Museum
The World War II Museum has continued to expand and is worth a whole day if you have not yet visited. On many lists, this museum is considered one of the top ten museums in the world by TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice. The museum continues to expand with its collections, exhibits, research, and programs.
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
This twelve-acre site outside the New Orleans Museum of Art is home to over 90 significant sculptures. The landscape includes meandering paths, reflecting lagoons, moss-laden 200-year-old oaks, pedestrian bridges, and plant specimens honoring local horticulture. The garden stands adjacent to the New Orleans Museum of Art, the city’s oldest fine arts institution, with a permanent collection of nearly 50,000 artworks, including French, American, and Japanese works displayed alongside important contemporary pieces.
Cemeteries
Check any guidebook to see which cemeteries are open—this is the best way to absorb the history of New Orleans. The final resting place of Mardi Gras royalty and VooDoo queens alike, these meditative spaces allow visitors to absorb history and stories and view beautiful above-ground crypts and mausoleums. Confederate generals, famous artists, composers, writers, and jazz greats speak to your imagination here.
Farmers Markets
The history of New Orleans lies within its food culture. Great cooks start their day here, and so can you. Visit a farmer’s market and taste the city’s world-wide famous Creole cuisine. Enjoy meeting the farmers and purveyors who love to “talk food” and share their family history. The complex tastes of French, Creole, and Cajun mingle here.
Mardi Gras Indians
Super Sunday is one of the few days to enjoy New Orleans’ traditional tribes, a prelude to Jazz Fest in early April. These lively, festooned citizens once again hit the streets near St. Joseph’s Day (March 19), when this patron saint of New Orleans is honored with altars laden with delicacies. Families work together year-round to create these magnificent costumes, honoring an important tradition that began in 1885.
Thanks for visiting my beloved New Orleans with me, Louise Glickman.