9 Best Museums in New Orleans
As an important American city, New Orleans of course enjoys some world class museums. The National World War II Museum is as impressive a venue as you'll find anywhere, and the New Orleans Museum of Art holds its own on a national stage. This being New Orleans, though, there are some wonderfully quirky options as well. The Museum of Death and The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum both fit the city's character in their own way, while the Backstreet Cultural Museum celebrates culture that could only have evolved in a city like this.
Courtesy Ogden Museum of Southern ArtactivityOgden Museum of Southern Art
Ogden Museum of Southern ArtThe 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.
GettyactivityNew Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans Museum of ArtA must-see on most visitors’ New Orleans itineraries, and deservedly so. The building itself, set back in City Park, is imposing and grand with its alabaster walls and Greco-Roman columns. There's also a beautiful five-acre sculpture garden, with artwork beneath magnolias and Spanish moss-laden live oaks. Inside, the collection is equally impressive, with French and American art and traveling exhibits that feature everything from fashion to digital media. It remains one the South’s most impressive fine art collections.
Erika Goldring/GettyactivityBackstreet Cultural Museum
Backstreet Cultural MuseumThe Treme neighborhood is one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the country, and inside what looks like an otherwise residential home is the new location for the Backstreet Cultural Museum, which houses one of the most comprehensive archives of the traditions and community movements that sprung from these streets. The most colorful aspect of the museum is its collection of elaborately sequined and beaded Mardi Gras masks and costumes, which have African and Native American influences. The collection also has information and artifacts relating to jazz funerals, second lines, and social aid and pleasure clubs. The exhibits are mainly permanent, although it’s a constantly growing archive of costumes, artifacts, memorabilia, photographs, and films. The museum also hosts special events (including live music performances by local musicians and parties) throughout the year.
Courtesy The Historic New Orleans CollectionactivityThe Historic New Orleans Collection
The Historic New Orleans CollectionThe Historic New Orleans Collection is set on a handsome campus in the heart of the French Quarter. Some of the 10 buildings on the property date back to the late 18th-century; archaeological digs have uncovered remnants of barracks that date as far back at 1720. Focusing on the history and culture of New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf South, the collection highlights subjects the War of 1812, Tennessee Williams, and jazz. The biggest permanent exhibition is Louisiana History, a wealth of paintings and artifacts spread across 13 galleries.
Kevin Barraco/Courtesy Old Ursuline Convent MuseumactivityOld Ursuline Convent Museum
Old Ursuline Convent MuseumThere are some impressive old structures in the French Quarter, and the Old Ursuline Convent is most certainly one of them; completed in 1752, it's one of the finest examples of French architecture in the United States. The building has lived many lives: a convent, a schoolhouse, a residence for the Archbishop, and a seat of city legislature. Inside, past the simple façade, are wooden staircases and stained-glass windows.
AlamyactivityNew Orleans Pharmacy Museum
New Orleans Pharmacy MuseumThis historic building on Chartres Street in the French Quarter hasn’t changed much since the 19th-century. Once home to America’s first licensed pharmacist, Louis Dufilho Jr., today the space lives on as the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, which celebrates this history through a treasure trove of antiques and ephemera. The collection includes hundreds of artifacts, from hand-blown apothecary bottles, potions once used by Voodoo practitioners, surgical instruments, prosthetic devices, and old wheelchairs. There’s also a reconstruction of a 19th-century pharmacists’ work area.
activityThe Cabildo
The CabildoThe Spanish arches and French-style roof of The Cabildo, a grand old building, bring a touch of regality to Jackson Square. The site of the Louisiana Purchase, the building has its own historical significance. But it's also home to an extensive collection of artifacts that date back to the days of the earliest explorers, including portraits of important figures, and original documents and artifacts covering everything from the Civil War to Native American culture in the region. The most celebrated item is probably Napoleon’s death mask—one of only four in existence.
Courtesy Museum of DeathactivityMuseum of Death
Museum of DeathThe Museum of Death is not for everyone, concerned as it is with almost every aspect of death. It will, however, appeal to those with a dark sense of humor or macabre fascinations. The building is knowingly kitsch from the outset, and almost looks like a set of a B-movie with it garish colors and cartoon-like imagery. Exhibits feature everything from serial killers and morgues to macabre art and skulls. It’s presented in an entertaining way, but death is still a weighty subject—that is, prepare yourself.
GettyactivityThe National WWII Museum
The National WWII MuseumThe National WWII Museum is a world-class history museum—a sprawling complex of modern buildings in the Warehouse District that receives thousands of visitors every day who want to hear "the story of the war that changed the world." Doing so is no easy task, but through large narrative exhibits that include detailed, personal accounts from eyewitnesses, the museum manages to do just that. Every conceivable medium is used: film, immersive exhibits, large-scale reconstructions, and first-person oral histories among them. Expect to walk—a lot—given how spread out exhibits are, but the museum is sensitive to the relatively mature age of its visitors and rest stops and benches are plentiful. A short visit isn't ideal given the scale of the topic at hand, but if you’re really pushed, you could tailor your visit to just see a specific interest, or go straight for the movie presentation.
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