This is a toplist with the best street art near Arts- Warehouse District, New Orleans. You can help to make this list better by voting for your favourite places!
1 Callan Contemporary
10+
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The galleries have really grown in the warehouse district with distinctive art. I liked Callan Contemporary Gallery because the gallery owner has a lot of knowledge about art and gallery operations. This is a gallery that probably does not cater to the casual tourist who wants to come home with a trinket. This is a gallery more for collectors and it is very encouraging to see this in Nola. While the current offerings were not to my taste, I appreciated the show. The owner was unpretentious and helpful so that makes it a nice place to browse.
3 Gallery 600 Julia
10+
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Gallery 600 is a unpretentious gallery with a nice variety of art. If you want some New Orleans landscapes, they have it. If you want something colorful and contemporary it may be there as well. The owner was very pleasant and spent time with me without any pressure to buy. This is a great gallery if you are starting to build you collection.
4 New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio
10+
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I love this place Mrs Blair is my godmother I miss her so much I remember the great times as a kid she always allowed me to come and have a great time I can’t wait to see her soon please tell her Cookie will come see her and I love her very much
5 Hall-Barnett Gallery
10+
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The fabulous Holly Barnett presents an array of artists from all over including local artists like myself! Check it out
7 Octavia Art Gallery New Orleans
10+
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Good mix of paintings and sculptural art. Very well laid out. Fun.
8 Warehouse & Arts District New Orleans
10+
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A wonderful change of pace from the French Quarter. Competitive dining, amazing art galleries, and historical landmarks. A must see for a tourist or locals.
9 Arthur Roger Gallery
10+
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February 15, 2020 @ 7:52 AM
Starbucks, Standard NOLA, Corner of Girod and O’Keefe
New Orleans, Louisiana
Friday made for a good day. I went for a walk along the galleries on Julia Street, one of my favorite walks in New Orleans. A good street that has a landing where cruise ships make port on the Mississippi River and also has two stadiums on the north end, the Superdome and the Smoothie King Center. I popped into the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery and wandered about, which is what one does in art galleries. My hearing must be good lately because I heard two men talking to the gallerist, “We’re exhibiting over at Arthur Roger Gallery”.
Dale Chihuly himself exhibits at Arthur Roger. Arthur Roger exhibits a few Chihuly chandeliers, which you might remember seeing in our visits to Habitat Gallery in Pontiac, Michigan. You even saw one assembled one visit and then disassembled into its glass blown shapes, scattered on the floor, awaiting packing.
Chihuly doesn’t actually blow his shapes anymore; he gives the designs to gaffers to execute. Yet, Roger Gallery was exhibiting the paintings on glass that Chihuly does execute himself. I loved the big blotches of blue on clearer glass and wondered how well those panels would catch the light in a lake house? But neither of these men were Chihuly, who would be very conspicuous, wearing an eye patch.
I wouldn’t have approached Dave Chihuly, such a superstar. I wandered up casually and said, “I love Arthur Roger Gallery. I’ve admired all the artists exhibited at Roger”. Without asking, “Who are you”, the men introduced themselves, two men about the same age. “I’m Jim Richard. And this is John Ahern”. Richard had just picked up Ahern at the airport, probably hosting the Bronx artist for the duration of Mardi Gras.
In fact, a parade from one side of the city to the other was about to take over St Charles Street for the evening. Businesses had gone to the extent of boarding up windows with plywood, wrapping plants with protective enclosures and setting barriers of woven, steel fence around their buildings. What was this monster coming, not a hurricane but a drove of people drinking hurricanes?
I loved Richard’s paintings, and I told him so in a few words. “Jim, every time I look at your gallery of work, I think it is an entirely new exhibition. And I’ve made a visit almost every day for the last few weeks”. Ahern makes sculptures of people he meets on the sidewalk in the Bronx. Richard curated a show for Ahern, but it hardly was necessary to raise Ahern to a new level. I took individual shots of Ahern’s casts of people and two of my followers strongly responded.
Katherine Tholl of Troy New York exhibited sculptures, not drawn from life but drawn from her imaginations. Her collection looked like Ahern’s work, although more cartoonish. She spotted my TikTok of Ahern right away and she described how his work inspired hers. A woman who surreptitiously posts pastes of African American women in Washington DC loved Ahern’s work because he represented African faces so lovingly. “He exalts the African face”, she wrote. I do not know who she is other than the person who posts as Absurdly Well. In fact, I have inferred that she identifies as a female. I really have no idea. I filled Ahern in on the fan club I had discovered for his work.
Ahern said, “Well, sir, you cross the line. Please reach out to me at the earliest opportunity”. He gave me a business card, hand lettered, with his contact information. I asked if I could share the information with his fan club. “That’s all right. I’ll take their likeness on the sidewalk if that’s okay”. I promised to share his contact information so the two could make an appointment. Ahern makes two copies of his castings, one for himself and one for the subject to keep. No wonder people “cross the line” and hit him up outside Fashion Moda in the South Bronx.
10 George Schmidt Gallery
8+
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Amazingly talented artist. Extremely impressed by the art and the historical context that surrounds each piece. Highly recommend!
11 JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY
10+
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Top of the line. I've followed this gallery since living in central Pennsylvania and can tell you that they qualify for a first floor spot in Chelsea, (Mahattan) but I'm very happy to see that they're one of the galleries that make NOLA such a Great City.
12 Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans
10+
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Marvelous, exciting pieces and some very heartbreaking pieces. Highly recommend!
13 Louisiana Contemporary
10+
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Great local and southern contemporary art. They had exhibits of art from Dillard and Xavier students, and a temporary exhibit of local artists that was great.
14 Ogden Museum of Southern Art
10+
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The Odgen fills an important gap in art education here in Louisiana. It's yearly juries exhibit of Louisiana artist offers access to work that could be missed locally as well as giving those artists an opportunity to be noticed at the national level. I enjoy my visits here. Don't miss the view from the rooftop! For shoppers, the gift shop is also a great place to find interesting gifts for the 'hard to shop for folks on your list.
15 LeMieux Galleries
10+
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An awesome gallery! They have a diverse mix of artists and styles, and fantastic custom framing. They have artwork to suit a huge variety of tastes and budgets. It's a women-owned business that has been part of the Arts District for well over 20 years.
16 Stella Jones Gallery
10+
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Not to be missed! This gallery always has incredible exhibitions by premier AFAM artists and emerging talent. One of the best!
17 La GUILD at Canal Place
10+
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Love this place!!!! Will definitely be going back to find a special piece. Customer service is impeccable!
18 The Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition by The Helis Foundation
1+
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I love seeing the variety of sculptures, especially while walking. They're interesting from the car, but walking allows you to see more details, to slow down and see it in context, and to read the placards.
Thank you, yet again, New Orleans. I love you.
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