Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

New Orleans, LA

The sculpture garden for NOMA occupies five acres in City Park adjacent to the museum. A lagoon bisects the picturesque site and creates two distinct halves. The section closest to the museum is more densely wooded than the lagoon's other side, which is punctuated by two hundred year old live oaks within an otherwise open meadow.

The garden accommodates fifty outdoor sculptures. The pieces are sited within a naturalistic layout of paths and garden features where visual connections between the sculptures are in most cases implied rather than dictated. The entire site is organized around a central axis – in some cases clearly defined by paths, in other cases expressed solely as a view corridor. This axis runs from the cast stone and bronze entry pavilions to a secondary entrance near the City Park Botanical Garden.

The architectural features – entry pavilions, bridges, gates, niches and terraces – are abstract in design, creating a backdrop for the largely figurative collection of sculpture.

Landscape Architect: J. Brian Sawyer, Sawyer/Berson, New York Lighting Designer: Stephen Bernstein, Cline Bernstein, New York