How to plan a walking tour exploring the alternative arts scene in New Orleans

Sugar-dusted beignets, punchy rye-laced sazeracs, and month-long Mardi Gras celebrations — the sounds and flavours of New Orleans are impossible to ignore.

In contrast, its vibrant art scene often slips under the radar. But stroll down its streets during the day and you’ll discover that, much like the live jazz flowing from its windows and street corners, art permeates every inch of this city.

There’s the once-neglected warehouse district, redeveloped into a hip arts quarter in the 1990s, that now flies the flag for small galleries and big museums. Over in the French Quarter, the Creole townhouses along Royal Street provide an elegant setting for fine-art galleries. Then there’s Frenchman Street, where — squeezed between mural-covered jazz clubs — visitors will find a night-time art bazaar full of handmade pieces.

1. Contemporary Arts Center

Start on Camp Street, where the Contemporary Arts Center plays anchor to the city’s Warehouse Arts District. Its cavernous interior gives ample space for photographs, sculptures and other visual works, plus a busy programme of performance art. Hungry for more? Dozens of independent galleries are dotted within minutes’ walk of each other along Camp, Julia and Magazine streets. 

2. The Old No. 77

Pick up a coffee from Tout La, this hotel’s industrial-chic cafe, before wandering over to its petite lobby gallery. Here, a display ranging from paintings to sculptures changes with the seasons. The collections are curated by local collective Where Y’Art Works, which has its own exhibition space on Royal Street. The hotel also hosts an artist-in-residence programme, and an exhibition shows the resulting works each summer. 

3. Stella Jones Gallery

En route to the French Quarter, you’ll pass Stella Jones Gallery, a space solely dedicated to Black artists. A doctor-turned-gallerist, Jones was an avid collector before opening the gallery in 1996 with her late husband Harry Sr. The couple championed African American, contemporary African and Caribbean fine art, using their carefully curated exhibitions to change the narrative around Black artists and make their often thought-provoking works more accessible. 

4. Napoleon House

Venture into the heart of the French Quarter for a muffuletta sandwich, with cured meats, cheese and tangy olive salad, and refreshing Pimm’s cup at this restaurant. Legend says the Creole townhouse was to be gifted to Napoleon Bonaparte, who died before he had the chance to accept it. True or not, its dining room has become an accidental gallery where kitsch Napoleon sketches hang alongside faded photographs. 

5. Gallery Arlo

A couple of blocks further north lies this bijou space crammed with contemporary artworks by female artists. Rather than a formal gallery, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into an eccentric collector’s storage space — almost nothing is set against a plain white wall, and there’s something to discover in every corner. The collection is wide ranging, with paintings and sculptures of vastly different proportions placed side by side.

6. Frenchmen Art Market

Head east along Royal Street, past the reputedly haunted LaLaurie Mansion, until you reach Frenchmen Street, where the city’s laid-back jazz clubs have formed a buzzy strip. Tucked among these is Frenchmen Art Market, an outdoor bazaar where you can buy pieces directly from local artists. It doesn’t open until 8pm; if you get there early, pop into any bar for a drink and some live music while you wait.