With so much to do in New Orleans, many forget that the city’s art scene is just as vibrant as the food and music. As summer winds down, make visiting museums a part of your end-of-summer bucket list. Check out the highlighted exhibits below and search our calendar to find even more art in New Orleans.
“Louisiana Contemporary”
“Louisiana Contemporary,” presented by The Helis Foundation, is the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's annual juried exhibition featuring work by contemporary artists from across the state. Featuring 50 works by 45 artists, the 2026 edition was selected by juror Sarah Jones, who is the Lulu C. and Anthony W. Wang Head of Live Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Louisiana Contemporary" is on view from August 1, 2026 to February 14, 2027.
“In the Eyes and Mind of the Feral Child: The Art of Tom McNease”
Born in Mississippi, Tom McNease was a talented and misunderstood artist. He later moved to Louisiana to study Zoology at Southeastern Louisiana University. After a brief career as a science teacher in the public school system, McNease developed an interest in photography. In line with his degree, he built a community of small cabins in the Louisiana marshlands where he could appreciate the natural world around him and attempt to capture it in his art. An eccentric recluse, McNease transitioned from photography to painting, keeping his passion for abstraction. He did not want to be constrained by expectations of the art world. Rather, he wanted to use abstraction to dissect his observations of the natural world. "In the Eyes and Mind of the Feral Child: The Art of Tom McNease" will be on view at the Ogden Museum from September 12, 2026 to March 14, 2027.
"Quiet Reserve: Stitching an Ambitious New Woman”
Curated by Sarah Brokenborough, "Quiet Reserve: Stitching an Ambitious New Woman” examines the history of embroidery at H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College in the early twentieth century. Because of the artform’s professional and creative uses, the needlework curriculum transformed ideas of women’s labor in the American South. This exhibit is on display at Newcomb Art Museum from August 20 - December 4, 2026.