Mordern, Free, Best Art Museums in River Ridge

"The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is dedicated to exploring the showcasing the visual arts and culture of the American South. Located next to Lee Circle in the Central Business District, the museum is associated with the University of New Orleans and features a collection of works from 1733 to the present by artists from or associated with fifteen southern American states, and the District of Columbia. The collection features over 4,000 works of all materials ranging from paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints to photographs, sculpture, wood, and crafts, and notable artists include Benny Andrews, Ida Kohlmeyer, Walter Andrews, Hunt Slonem, Clementine Hunter, William Dunlap, and George Ohr."

"At this stately museum in City Park, you’ll experience New Orleans’ oldest fine arts institution, which opened in 1911 and showcased just nine works of art. Fast forward more than 100 years, and NOMA (1 Collins Diboll Circle; 504-658-4100) plays host to a permanent collection of nearly 40,000 objects that include photography, glass works, French and American art, Japanese and African works, and much more. Just outside, the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden is home to over 60 sculptures by renowned artists from around the world."

"In the 1912 the sugar broker and art collector Isaac Delgado left New Orleans a sizeable grant to establish what would become the New Orleans Museum of Art. The main building went up soon after, to a design partly by Benjamin Morgan Harrod, New Orleans’s former chief engineer, while new wings and expansions followed in the early-1970s and 90s. The collection is huge, with more than 40,000 pieces from the Italian Renaissance to today."

"Behind the museum’s main building is a gated outdoor space in 11 acres of mature parkland enriched with more than 90 works of sculpture. The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden opened in 2003 and at the time of writing in 2019 had just doubled in size with an expansion that included 26 new works, mostly by 21st-century artists. On serpentine paths among pines, magnolias, camellias and live oaks draped with Spanish moss there are pieces by Henry Moore, Deborah Butterfield, Barbara Hepworth, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Robert Indiana, Gaston Lachaise and René Magritte, as well as contemporary sculptors like Katharina Fritsch, Hank Willis Thomas and Jeppe Hein."

"This five-acre sculpture garden is a park within City Park, and acts as an open-air annex to the wonderful New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). 90 sculptures—mostly modern and abstract—are set among magnolias and live oaks, framed by bridges and reflecting pools, with world-renowned artists Henry Moore, Antoine Bourdelle, and Ossip Zadkine represented. The lake-set Virlane Tower by Kenneth Snelson is a favorite, as is the familiar Love, Red Blue sign by Robert Indiana, but it’s best to come without a map."

"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."

"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 has free admission for Louisiana residents on Sundays courtesy of the Helis Foundation. The museum focuses on multi-disciplinary programming and rotating exhibits."

"If you like arts and culture, you might enjoy a trip to the New Orleans Museum of Arts aka NOMA. Here you’ll find art work from famous artists like Picasso, Joan Miro, Georgia O’ Keffe, and also some local Louisiana artists. The art exhibition are divided into arts from different regions of the world. NOMA has a nice cafe, a cute garden to enjoy a picnic and a lake behind to kayak."

"Take the famous St. Charles Streetcar to Central City to visit the McKenna Museum of African American Art. The museum’s mission is to make African Diasporan fine art available and accessible to visitors of all ages. They work to preserve the culture of the African American community in Louisiana."

"The McKenna Museum is a fine art institution with a direct focus on African Diasporan pieces. In addition to their collection, McKenna offers a range of diverse programming such as guest speakers, workshops and book readings to further their mission and work."

"As the leaders in drive-thru for over 30 years Checkers & Rally’s locations are currently open and ready to serve our guests. We can provide our guests with the additional safety of an enclosed kitchen and limited personal contact – whether you choose to drive up, order ahead online, or have our ..."

"This Rally's always seems to be providing high quality service. This quality of service while being in one of the most busy Rally's visited in ..."

"Don’t order sushi for lunch at Conola, only because it isn’t on the menu. But come dinnertime, and the sushi bar is rolling. It’s a bit of a disconnect, since this place is mostly a Creole/American restaurant, but co-chef/owners/spouses Will and Kinsey Varas make it happen."

"You'll find everything from pizza to Middle Eastern to Vietnamese (plus a cocktail bar) at the stylish Pythian Market, a food hall located on the edge of the French Quarter. I've only been once, but I loved the flavor-packed Mushroom Medley Salad from Squeezed, and my husband had a Phoritto (basically, pho in burrito form ... a tofu version is available) from Eatwell."

"This instantly recognizable food truck celebrates the simple deliciousness of butter, cheese, and fresh bread with grilled cheese treats that venture beyond classic. Try the spicy pimento or saucy craw-daddy, with a side of fried macaroni and cheese balls. Craving more cheap eats in New Orleans of the food truck variety?"

"Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (504) 481-9599; www.pythianmarket.com. A Nashville hot chicken sandwich features a fried chicken breast dunked in Nashville-style hot sauce on a toasted sesame bun with house-made pickles."

"Lower Ninth Ward, naturallyThis neighborhood of New Orleans, East and across the Industrial Canal from the hipster-inflected Bywater, is most notable in the media for two things. Firstly, it was one of the hardest hit by Katrina flooding, and is still one of the last to fully recover."

"Explore the history of New Orleans' historic Lower 9th Ward pre-, during, and post- Hurricane Katrina. Admission is always free."

"After voodoo (or vodou) came to New Orleans in the 1700s—first via West African slaves, then with Haitians after the Haitian Revolution—it entwined with the city’s identity. Which is why, since the 1970s, a French Quarter visit has been deemed incomplete without a stop at the tiny Historic Voodoo Museum. If it’s lore you seek, you’ll find it here."