New Orleans Museum of Art events mark 20th anniversary of Besthoff Sculpture Garden

Two decades ago, Walda and Sydney Besthoff gave a gift to the people of New Orleans. This year, the New Orleans Museum of Art — itself the result of a Jewish gift, by Isaac Delgado in 1910 — is celebrating the gift that became the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden with a series of events, culminating in the Visionaries Gala and Garden Party on Nov. 7 and 8.

“What started as a small collection of sculpture has turned into something momentous with endless collaboration from my late husband Sydney, myself, and NOMA,” said Walda Besthoff, who is a current NOMA Trustee. “Twenty years ago, 20 works were placed in a landscaped setting on five acres adjacent to the museum — which has grown to 100 works of art from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries on nearly 12 acres. The garden is notable not only for its natural beauty, but also for the breadth and quality of the work it contains.”

“The Besthoff Sculpture Garden perfectly expresses the museum’s mission to provide a welcoming space where visitors of all backgrounds can connect with works created by artists from around the world,” said Susan Taylor, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA. “This anniversary offers an extraordinary opportunity to reflect on the garden’s first 20 years and envision its future as a defining art experience in our city and a destination for visitors from near and far.”

The Besthoffs started collecting art in the 1970s, while also being active with the Contemporary Arts Center. They established the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation to encourage public interest in the arts, especially contemporary sculpture. They placed some of the large sculptures outside the K&B corporate offices at what was Lee Circle. In 1997, they sold the 186-store pharmacy chain to Rite-Aid.

After the acquisition, they started discussing what to do with their sculpture collection. Sydney Besthoff had been on the NOMA board since 1992, and he started discussions with Museum Director Emeritus E. John Bullard about what would eventually become the sculpture garden.

Ida Kohlmeyer

The Besthoffs donated their outdoor sculptures, which had a valuation of about $25 million at the time, and provided cornerstone funding for the landscaping and lighting of the garden. In November 2003, the garden opened with a range of works from the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Works included Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE, a huge diaper pin by Claes Oldenberg, the gravity-defying “Virlane Tower” by Kenneth Snelson, an Ida Kohlmeyer creation, and a George Rodrigue Blue Dog sculpture, “We Stand Together.”

Not even two years after it opened, the garden was dealt a massive blow, as was the rest of the city, with the levee failure following Hurricane Katrina. For almost three weeks, four to six feet of water from Lake Pontchartrain covered 95 percent of City Park. The sculpture garden had to be cleaned, repaired and restored.

In 2017, work began on a $17 million expansion to double the garden’s size to 12 acres. To get around the problem of a road that separated the two sections, a “canal link bridge” was created underneath the road, with a concrete walkway bordered on one side by the lagoon, which goes up to chest level of those walking next to it.

For the new section, numerous pieces were commissioned by noted artists specifically for the garden. The expansion opened in 2019 with 27 new works, an amphitheater and a 5,000-square-foot indoor pavilion.

Three new works were unveiled this year — Sarah Sze’s “Fallen Sky,” a spherical cavity embedded into the landscape with mirrored stainless steel; “Time Unfolding” by Thomas J. Price;  and “Maybe (Not)” by the duo Elmgreen and Dragset. That piece, an 18-foot diving board towering over the edge of the lagoon with two figures on top, is featured on banners promoting the anniversary.

The expansion also features a chrome bear by Frank Gehry, and a map of the Mississippi River in green marbles by Maya Lin.

The last piece that was acquired before Sydney died in 2022 was “Crocodylus” by Wangechi Mutu.

From the very beginning, the garden was intended to be a gift to the city, so admission has always been free, though donations are welcomed.

The sculptures and landscaping complement each other, evoking Louisiana’s natural features, from the lagoon to the live oaks and indigenous vegetation. The role of water plays a prominent theme.

In 2022, the Besthoff Sculpture Garden was named the top sculpture park in the country in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice poll. The New York Times featured the Besthoff Sculpture Garden in its latest 36 Hours in New Orleans travel itinerary, and the sculpture garden has been included in recent features in numerous magazines.

The 20th anniversary year started last December with a free family day. A complementary exhibition at the museum of works by Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu opened in January; two of her works are permanently in the garden.

Additional artists featured in the garden include Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois, Sean Scully, Do Ho Suh, Ugo Rondinone, Hank Willis Thomas, and many others.

A new book about the history of the garden and its works is being published by Monacelli, a leading publisher of illustrated books.

The garden is open daily except major holidays starting at 10 a.m., closing at 6 p.m. from April to September, and 5 p.m. the rest of the year.

“We invite everyone to join us in celebrating 20 years of this place of respite, beauty, and discovery for visitors,” Taylor said.

Celebrating the Garden

The November galas will raise funds to support the garden and musem.

“For the Visionaries Gala Dinner and Garden Party, guests from near and far will come together to honor the contributions of Sydney and Walda Besthoff to NOMA and to our city,” said Taylor. “Celebrating one of the most important destinations in New Orleans, this singular event will reflect on the past two decades, while looking forward to the garden’s vibrant future.”

The Nov. 7 gala at 6 p.m. will be a seated dinner in the garden, with several musical acts, highlighted by three-time Grammy winner The Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet. The “creative black tie” event is open to Fellows supporters, which is a giving level of $2,000.

The Nov. 8 garden party at 7 p.m. will be a larger event, with music by C’est Funk and The Rumble, dancing, drinks and casual fare. Patron tickets are $150, $125 for museum members.

The garden celebrations are in place of the museum’s usual annual fundraising events, LOVE in the Garden and the Odyssey gala.