Best Arts and Culture Places in Jean Lafitte

"The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is Smithsonian-affiliated and, as its name suggests, celebrates the culture and aesthetic of Southern artists. The permanent collection showcases more than 4,000 pieces from 15 states; in fact, with works dating back to 1733, the institution boasts the most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world. Exhibits feature paintings, photography, sculpture, and handicrafts, and place historical works alongside contemporary artists working in the South."

"A massive stone edifice in City Park, the museum encompasses a huge collection of works primarily by American and French artists, as well as international pieces from Asia, Africa, and South America. Key items found in this important museum include a group of paintings by Edgar Degas, which the French Impressionist created while visiting New Orleans in the 1870s. Those are joined by pieces created by Picasso, Braque, Dufy, and Miro, as well as many other well-known artists."

"If you’ve got an eye for art, you simply have to check out the New Orleans Museum of Art, known simply as NOMA for short. Located in City Park, this museum shows off some of the truly beautiful and historically rich art. This Louisiana museum first began its journey in 1912, when Isaac Delgado, an art collector and sugar broker, left the city behind, also leaving a large financial grant to be used to establish the museum."

"The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden is technically a part of the New Orleans Museum of Art, but it’s one of those places to visit that deserves its very own part of this listing since many come by just to visit the garden on its own. Right near the main NOMA building, an 11-acre expanse of garden stretches out, decorated with over 90 different sculptures. The gardens first opened in 2003 and have grown in size ever since it made its home in the rear of the Louisiana museum."

"Inside City Park, the New Orleans Museum of Art and Besthoff Sculpture Garden is a fun find for families looking to escape the heat and meander through galleries of exquisite art. The museum offers regular galleries and visiting exhibitions. Families can enjoy galleries featuring everything from West African art to Roman Catholic art from India to contemporary art pieces."

"The sculpture garden that sits just outside the New Orleans Museum of Art is a wooded quilt of streams, pathways, lovers' benches and, of course, sculpture, mainly of the modern and contemporary sort. During spring and summer, theatrical productions are often put on here, but it's a lovely spot for a stroll any time of year."

"The Contemporary Arts Center, housed in a large redbrick building that stands out in the relatively muted Central Business District, is one of the city’s most prestigious spaces for the full gamut of contemporary arts, including painting, film, theater, and music. Exhibits, which rotate every four to eight weeks, can include any visual art form, from photography to sculpture and painting. The featured works are well-curated—sometimes around themes, sometimes around individual contemporary artists."

"Visit the spacious art galleries of the Contemporary Arts Center to see some world-class fine art in the up-and-coming warehouse district in downtown New Orleans. There are different artist residences happening and constantly rotating and changing exhibits. The museum is famous for the events that it hosts with different performances and lectures."

"The CAC (900 Camp Street; 504-528-3805) has been in the heart of the Warehouse District since 1976. It is the place to find new and exciting expression in the medium of painting, theater, music, performance art, dance, photography, video, sculpture and more in New Orleans. Love is in the air at the NOMA Sculpture Garden in City Park."

"Located in the center of City Park is NOMA, New Orleans Museum of Art which the building itself is beautiful holding a permanent fine art collection of over 40,000 pieces. We will be checking this out on our next trip as well!"

"Gracing the main entrance to City Park since 1911, this traditional fine-arts museum draws from classic Greek architecture, with several…"

"Spillman | Blackwell is an exciting new venue on the block – located on Camp Street in the Warehouse District. Recently conceived by longtime best friends Leslie-Claire Spillman and Amy Blackwell, the gallery showcases a diverse roster of artists who work with a variety of media and processes. Bold surrealist canvases from artists like Ed Smith hang side by side with the abstract creations of Melissa Herington and realist photographs of Spillman herself."

"The Beauregard-Keyes House is significant and worth a tour for its Greek Revival architecture, lovely quaint garden, and for once having been the residence of Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a New Orleans native who ordered the first shots of the Civil War and remained a hero in the South long after the war was lost. Ursuline nuns used the property from the early 1700s until the 1820s when the new house was designed to combine elements of a Creole cottage with Greek Revival features, including a Palladian facade, curved twin staircases, Tuscan portico, and generous dining room. In 1945, author Frances Parkinson Keyes was looking for a place to write and live in New Orleans."

"The oldest and most storied of New Orleans’ many cemeteries, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is a Roman Catholic burial place a block west of the French Quarter. It opened in 1789 during the city’s redesign following the Great Fire of 1788. In a city partially below water level, cemeteries need to be above ground using decorative vaults."

"Now, this might sound pretty macabre but give me a moment to explore. The New Orleans cemeteries have become something of a place to see whilst in the city, especially as they house some voodoo remnants from the people that rest there. You see, since New Orleans is actually built on a swamp."

"I recommend Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 to see the tomb of Marie Laveau, a famous mixed race Voodoo priestess. Though other cemeteries are free to explore, to see this one you’ll need to take a walking tour offered Monday through Saturday at 10am, 11:30am and 1pm, and Sunday at 10am."

"The team at Warehouse District food hall Auction House has an on-trend new cocktail menu for summer, offering a Kalimotxo that marries the traditional Basque punch and a Whiskey Sour; a Barcelona style G&T with gin, El Guapo tonic, thyme, clove, house tincture, and grapefruit; and the cloudy Pau Hana, made with rum, manzanilla sherry, lime, banana and pimento dram. The bright, plant-filled space makes for a nice setting to sip drinks, and there’s are new happy hour specials weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m."

"I've enjoyed everything from the Yum Woon Sen Noodles at Long Chim Thai Street Food to a Bibimbap Salad at Happy Jaxx to empanadas from Empanola Empanadas at Auction House Market ... all super delicious!"

"Max Well serves lunch and dinner and sticks to vegetarian fare such as salads, soups and bowls. There are protein sides ranging from hummus to lentils, and they have expanded entree offerings at dinner. Try the NOLA Bowl which features red beans, brown rice, cajun coleslaw and a jalapeño millet muffin."

"If you’re looking for a quick, easy vegan lunch option in NOLA then Max Well is your best bet. From healthy, fresh juices to power bowls and super salads, there’s a lot on the menu here that will fuel your body in the right way."

"My first time eating at Max Well and the food was delicious. I ordered the Birria and crab cakes. I I wanted to take pictures but I couldn’t stop eating...."

"Got a salad through Uber Eats because I was looking for something healthy. Super happy with my southwest salad and ability to customize."

"500 9th St., Gretna, (504) 500-0997; www.bananablossom504.com. Larb gai is a salad with ground chicken, onion, cilantro, mint and toasted rice-lime dressing. Reservations accepted."