By Dorian Hatchett

Photography is the art of preserving a moment in time, and in doing so, giving that moment an entire narrative writ timeless in the unique voice of the artist. Nothing is so beneficial to art as a diverse range of perspectives. To this end, New Orleans Photo Alliance, with approximately 300 members, provides a space for that diversity to coalesce in an entirely new range of artistic opportunity.  

Comprised of photographers of all levels of skill and experience from passionate hobbyists to award winning photojournalists, New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) seeks to foster a sense of community in this most science-driven art form. Member benefits include not only frequent gallery shows, but access to low-cost darkroom space and year-round educational events and workshops.  

The principle of the Pushpin Show is a simple one. Instead of a formal affair, with framed or mounted photographs revealed at an opening ceremony as a curated collection, this show starts at zero, and organically grows across the span of the event.

All NOPA members are invited to participate. Just bring a piece of work to contribute, place it where you like, and watch as the unspoken communication turns the exhibit into a shifting visual landscape. Members are allowed to hang their work during gallery hours on August 21 (11am-4pm), but also during the opening reception that evening (from 5-7pm) and then for the entire length of the show (through September 25th), with the only stipulation that once hanged, a piece must remain on display thought the entire show.  

The result is a show that is fluid and shifting. As new pieces join the chorus of photographic voice, the song changes, morphing across tone and theme to a spectacular crescendo of ideas.  

​The Pushpin Show is at 7800 Oak St. August 21st-September 25th. The New Orleans Photo Alliance (and membership information) can be found at neworleansphotoalliance.org 

A calendar of August's programs and events at NOMA:

Wednesday, August 6, 12:30 and 6:00 pm | Gallery Talks with Artist Elenora “Rukiya” Brown
Local artist, designer, and Black Masking Indian Elenora “Rukiya” Brown discusses her work at the museum and connections to the exhibition New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations.
https://noma.org/event/gallery-talk-new-african-masquerades-artistic-innovations-and-collaborations-2/2025-08-06/ 

Friday, August 8, 6–9 pm | NOMA at Night
Explore the museum after hours during NOMA at Night, celebrating the closing of the exhibition New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations. Visitors can explore the galleries, enjoy live music from Bamboula 2000, DJ sets from artist Jer’Lisa Devezin, curator-led gallery talks, exhibition-inspired food and drink from Café NOMA, and more. Tickets are $15 for NOMA members; $30 full price; free for ages 19 and under.
https://noma.org/event/noma-at-night-new-african-masquerades-closing-celebration/

Saturday, August 9, 12:30–2:00 pm | Studio KIDS!: Tinker Hatfield (Ages 11–14)
In this upcoming Studio KIDS! workshop, students will be introduced to the art and design work of Tinker Hatfield, a designer known for his numerous Air Jordan designs. After discussing the elements and principles of art and design, students will incorporate the artwork at NOMA into their Hatfield-inspired shoe designs. Registration is $25 for members; $30 full price. Advance registration is required and includes all art-making materials.
https://noma.org/event/studio-kids-tinker-hatfield-ages-11-14/ 

Wednesday, August 13, 12:30 and 6:00 pm | Gallery Talks with Artist Thameur Mejri
Artist Thameur Mejri in conversation about works in the exhibition Afropolitan: Contemporary African Arts at NOMA, which features Mejri’s 2018 work titled Untitled (Eroded Grounds). Mejri is the first Tunisian artist to be included in NOMA’s permanent collection. Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday. https://noma.org/event/gallery-talk-with-thameur-mejri/2025-08-13/ 

Wednesdays, August 13 and 20, 6–8 pm | Soul-Sip at NOMA
A one-of-a-kind art and wine series that offers a unique blend of relaxation, art appreciation, and wine tasting. The evening includes gallery tours featuring select wine-related artifacts from NOMA’s permanent collection, guided meditation, a three-wine flight, and small bites from Cafe NOMA. Registration is $55 for NOMA members, $65 full price. Food, wine, and meditation kit included. https://noma.org/events/category/special/soul-sip/

Thursday, August 14, 12–1 pm | Book Club: Rolland Golden: Life, Love, and Art in the French Quarter
Golden’s daugher Lucille Golden and widow Stella Golden—co-editors of his memoir—will attend this month's gathering to offer a deeper perspective on the book and the artist’s life. Free with advance registration.
https://noma.org/event/book-club-rolland-golden/ 

Wednesday, August 20, 12:30 pm | Gallery Talk with Curator Anne Collins Smith
Chief Curator Anne Collins Smith in conversation about works in the exhibition Dapper Bruce Lafitte: A Time Before Katrina. Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday. https://noma.org/exhibitions/dapper-bruce-lafitte-a-time-before-katrina/

Wednesday, August 20, 6:00 pm | Gallery Talk with Artist Dapper Bruce Lafitte
Artist Dapper Bruce Lafitte in conversation about works in his exhibition A Time Before Katrina, on view in NOMA’s Great Hall. Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative.
https://noma.org/exhibitions/dapper-bruce-lafitte-a-time-before-katrina/

​Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed @ The New Orleans Museum of Art
Review by Jamie Chiarello

Upon walking up to the stairs of the NOMA, there is no missing the new work by Nicolas Floc'h. Without any further explanation, I would have assumed I was looking at a gigantic value study stretched from floor to ceiling. In some respects that is exactly what it is.

Of course, aesthetics are very a personal thing, and I'm sure that many people will find this piece charming and spirited. Personally, it struck me as simple and confusingly large. In an increasingly desensitized and overwhelmed world, large scale works hope to snatch our eyes for a moment.

The paragraph on the wall informs us that each color swatch is actually a photo taken at various locations and depths along the Mississippi. The array of colors are influenced by sediment, plant life and various chemical contents. There is implied a sense of revelation here, that water can be red, green, yellow or blue. It encourages us to look beyond our initial assumptions about the world around us, provoking curiosity before leading us further along the journey of the watershed.

Moving through the rooms we follow Nicolas on his venture along the river. The color swatches from various locations are interspersed among black and white photos. The photos really had an effect on me that was somewhat the opposite of the color swatches. Vast landscapes with peaks of tired industry give the feeling of aging Americana, of infrastructure quietly fading in the sun. The photos are powerful and beautiful in their own right. It made me wonder what it would have been like to simply witness the photos and feel the sensations stirred without the geography lesson.

I imagine if I had encountered this show in a science museum I would have absolutely loved it. The stress on reiterating the importance of water in our lives (particularly in relation to climate change) feels a bit redundant for a place like New Orleans. Between losing homes to hurricanes, clearing catch basins of beads and debris by hand and facing $6000 bills from sewage and water, locals know too well what intense effects water can have on our lives.

Overall, though, this show does offer educational insights into how water is optically perceived and the effects of humanity trying to simply exist amongst natural resources. I hope the questions raised by the exhibit are being addressed by engineers, politicians and those with the power to affect how much water affects our lives in coming years.

Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed runs at NOMA through ​February 22nd, 2026. Click here for more information.

The custom piano played by acclaimed musical artist Jon Batiste during Super Bowl LIX is now on view in the museum’s Lapis Center for the Arts. The grand piano features a design by artist and bestselling author Suleika Jaouad, who is Batiste’s wife.

Before Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX game, Batiste performed the national anthem. A Louisiana native, Batiste is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning artist known for his dynamic work as a singer, songwriter, and composer. Visitors to NOMA will have the unique opportunity to see the custom piano.

The New Orleans Museum of Art is open Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–5 pm, and Wednesdays, 12–7 pm. Every Wednesday, museum admission is free for Louisiana residents courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative.

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) will open New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations, a major exhibition presenting the work of four contemporary artists working in cities across West Africa: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou, and Hervé Youmbi.

The first presentation of its kind, New African Masquerades offers a rare look into contemporary West African masquerade by contextualizing the works of individual artists within a range of social, economic, and religious practices and examining their networks of viewership and exchange. Made from materials including wood, cloth and fabrics, sequins, feathers, gourds, raffia, and cowry shells, the ensembles on view represent a wide variety of masquerade practices and societies. 

New African Masquerades is on view April 4–August 10, 2025, in NOMA’s first-floor Ella West Freeman Galleries. 

What's on at NOMA in the upcoming weeks:

Wednesday, December 11, 12:30 pm: Gallery Talk with Curator Brian Piper
Timed with the annual PhotoNOLA festival, Freeman Family Curator of Photographs, Prints, and Drawings Brian Piper leads a discussion about the exhibition Show & Tell: A Brief History of Photography and Text. Drawn from NOMA’s permanent collection, the exhibition explores the intersection between photography and written language, from photography’s invention to the present day. Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/gallery-121124/ 

Wednesday, December 11, 6:30 pm: Ideas in Glass with Artists Gene Koss and Deborah Czeresko
In celebration of the exhibition Sand, Ash, Heat: Glass at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the museum is hosting studio glass artists Gene Koss and Deborah Czeresko in conversation with exhibition curator Mel Buchanan in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts. Gene Koss founded the glass art program at Tulane University nearly fifty years ago and served as its head until his 2024 retirement. A graduate of Tulane’s glass program under Koss, Czeresko brought her artistic voice in glass to a wider audience as the winner of the inaugural season of Netflix’s Blown Away in 2019. Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/glass-panel-koss-and-czeresko/ 

Wednesday, December 18, 12:30 pm: Gallery Talk on Conservation
Ingrid Seyb, NOMA’s Conservator of Objects, leads a conversation about works in the exhibition Sand, Ash, Heat: Glass at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which presents nearly 300 objects representing over 4,000 years of world history through the medium of glass.
Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/gallery-talk-121824/ 

Wednesday, December 18, 6 pm: Elders Sacred Talk Series
Each program in the Elders Sacred Talk Series, produced in partnership with the Congo Square Preservation Society, spotlights prolific elder New Orleanians, celebrating the lives they lead while providing the opportunity for visitors to learn firsthand about the impact they’ve had on our city. The series is part of NOMA’s Art Thrives initiative, which presents creative aging programs to support visitors ages 55 and up, including art-making workshops and platforms for older adults to share their experiences with audiences of all ages. Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. https://noma.org/event/elders-sacred-talk-series-121824/ 

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) closes out a year of programming marking 20 years of the museum’s Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden with the Visionaries Garden Party. Attendees will enjoy music, dancing, and libations under the stars surrounded by some of the most celebrated works of art of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Guests are encouraged to wear festive, garden party attire.

Friday, November 8, 7–11 pm @ NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden
Funds raised support the future of NOMA and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden.
The Visionaries Garden Party is part of a year of programming, events, new installations, and more celebrating 20 years of NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden, a landmark destination for visitors from New Orleans and around the world. Other events include the Visionaries Gala on Thursday, November 7, with an extremely limited number of seats available.

Entertainment for the evening includes:

• Live music from Grammy Award-nominated band The Rumble featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
• DJ sets from C’est Funk featuring international grooves through a New Orleans lens
• Dance and musical performance by Jaleo Flamenco, a vibrant collective of passionate musicians and dancers committed to preserving and promoting the rich tradition of flamenco

A calendar of upcoming programs and events organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA):
Wednesday, October 9, 5–7 pm: Creative Writing Poetry Showcase with Creative Assembly Artist Daniel Fitzpatrick
Celebrate the power of words during a poetry showcase hosted by Creative Assembly Cohort member Daniel Fitzpatrick. 
https://noma.org/event/creative-writing-showcase-daniel-fitzpatrick/
Monday, October 14, 9 am–6 pm: Member Sale at the NOMA Museum Shop
The NOMA Museum Shop hosts its annual member sale to kick off the holiday shopping season. 
https://noma.org/event/member-sale-2024/
Thursday, October 17, 12–1 pm: Book Club Discussion on Glass: Sand, Ash, Heat
NOMA’s book club meets monthly to discuss fiction and non-fiction books related to art in the museum’s collection and exhibitions. This month’s selection is the catalogue Glass: Sand, Ash, Heat which features contributions from scholars across disciplines looking at the history of glass.
https://noma.org/event/book-club-october-2024/
Sunday, October 20, 2 pm: Created to Create with Creative Assembly Artist Simone Immanuel (In-Person and Virtual)
A talk show hosted by NOMA Creative Assembly artist Simone Immanuel, Created to Create is designed to foster honest conversations about creativity with local Black artists in New Orleans. 
Free and open to the public. A livestream option will also be available.
Wednesday, October 23, 6 pm: Elders Sacred Talk Series
Each program in the Elders Sacred Talk Series, produced in partnership with the Congo Square Preservation Society, spotlights prolific elder New Orleanians, celebrating the lives they lead while providing the opportunity for visitors to learn firsthand about the impact they’ve had on our city. 
Saturday, October 26, 10 am–4 pm: Japan Fest (pictured)
Celebrate Japanese culture through art, performances, food, and more at Japan Fest, organized by NOMA, the Japan Club in New Orleans, and the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville. Sample Japanese cuisine, enjoy traditional dance groups, martial arts demonstrations, and tours throughout the day. 
https://noma.org/event/japan-fest-2024/