Ogden Museum of Southern Art


The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. The Ogden Museum of Southern Art holds the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art and is recognized for its original exhibitions, public events and educational programs which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature and culinary heritage to provide a comprehensive story of the South.
Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003, the museum welcomes almost 85,000 visitors annually. It attracts diverse audiences through its broad range of programming including exhibitions, lectures, film screenings and concerts to broaden the knowledge, understanding, interpretation and appreciation of the visual arts and culture of the American South.

The building

The Ogden consists of two main buildings: the Patrick F. Taylor Library built in 1889 and designed by renowned architect Henry Hobson Richardson, and the adjacent Stephen Goldring Hall, a 47,000-square-foot, five-story glass and stone building built in 2003. The museum also includes the Museum Store and the Center for Southern Craft and Design.
The museum's location is across the street from the National World War II Museum and the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center. The three institutions anchor an arts district serving local residents and over 11 million visitors to New Orleans. The museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate.

Collection

The collection consists of work by artists from or associated with fifteen southern states and the District of Columbia. It is based upon the founding donation of more than 600 works from New Orleans businessman Roger H. Ogden's private collection. Since this original donation the museum's collection of paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, wood and crafts has grown to include more than 4,000 works donated from individuals and collectors from across the US.
The collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world and embodies the visual heritage and history of the American South from 1733 to the present. Among the many artists represented in the museum's collection are John Alexander, Walter Anderson, Benny Andrews, Clementine Hunter, George Rodrigue, George Dureau, William Dunlap, Ida Kohlmeyer, Will Henry Stevens, Kendall Shaw, Hunt Slonem, James Michalopoulos and George Ohr.
When the Ogden Museum opened in 2003, the New York Times observed that there is no easily identifiable Southern art style in the museum's collection. A sense of place, history and memory were themes that emerged. According to the Times, the artwork in the collection “range from folk art to shadowy paintings of bayous and back streets, from haunting old photographs to bright modern abstractions.” The museum has permanent galleries and changing exhibitions throughout the year.

Exhibitions

2016

Arthur Kern: The Surreal World of a Reclusive Sculptor
Arthur Kern is a retired Tulane professor of art who all but withdrew from the outside world thirty years ago. Since then, he has spent much of his time working in his basement studio, creating scores of surreal sculptures that disturb as often as they enchant. The retired Tulane professor had been working without notice in his New Orleans studio when his unusual works were brought to the attention of the Ogden Museum. The sculptures of humans or horses were mostly made from polyester resin. This exhibition was the first major showing of the artist and was guest curated by John Berendt.
Louisiana Contemporary Presented by the Helis Foundation.
This annual event promotes contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana, provides exhibition space for the exposition of living artists’ work, and recognizes the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art center. The 2016 Juror is Bill Arning, the director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
Top Mob: A History of New Orleans Graffiti - June 4 - November 6, 2016
Over the years, graffiti has evolved from a purely street level rebellion to a multimillion-dollar business, attracting a new generation of “street artists” and thus changing the perception of where graffiti culture comes from. This exhibition is a visual and historical retelling of the evolution of New Orleans graffiti by the ones who were there when it started and those who have kept it alive. This exhibition is sponsored by Mo's Art Supply.
/’PĀPƏR/ - June 11, 2016 – November 6, 2017
Works on paper are by nature light-sensitive and susceptible to the environment. For that reason, these works in museum collections are often kept in the dark, and only displayed for short periods of time. This exhibition brings many of the masterful works on paper from the Ogden Museum’s permanent collection out of the dark, climate-controlled drawers of the vault, and into the light of exhibition. Ranging from historic drawings to contemporary papier-mâché, /’pāpər/ will showcase the diversity and depth of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's collection of paper works. This exhibition also celebrates the diverse ways in which Southern artists have approached their medium. This exhibition includes work by Robert Rauschenberg, Benny Andrews, Ellsworth Woodward, John McCrady, John T. Scott, Dusti Bongé, George Dureau, Caroline Durieux, Michael Meads, Jules Pascin, Gregory Saunders, Seymour Fogel, John Alexander, Minnie Evans, Clementine Hunter, Walter Anderson, William Dunlap, Andrew Bucci, Enrique Alferez, Fritz Bultman, William Hollingsworth, Noel Rockmore, James Surls, Hudson Marquez, George Biddle and others.
Maude Schuyler Clay: Mississippi History - October 1, 2016 - January 15, 2017
Maude Schuyler Clay is a fifth generation Mississippian. Clay started her color portrait series Mississippi History in 1975 when she acquired her first Rolleiflex 2 ¼” camera. At the time, she was living and working in New York and paying frequent visits to her native Mississippi Delta, whose landscape and people continued to inspire her. Over the next 25 years, the project, which began as The Mississippians, evolved in part as an homage to Julia Margaret Cameron, a definitive pioneer of the art of photography. Clay's expressive, allegorical portraits of her friends, family and other Mississippians, as well as her artful approach to capturing the essence of light, are the driving forces behind her recollection of moments of family life in Mississippi in the 1980s and 90s.
Simon Gunning and the Southern Louisiana Landscape - October 1, 2016 - February 5, 2017
Australian-born Simon Gunning left his native country in the 1970s with plans to attend a graduate program in England for painting. On his way, he traveled through the United States and to New Orleans, where he was captivated by the city's urban landscape set amongst a lush backdrop of tropical flora and cypress swamps. Gunning moved to New Orleans in 1981 and began painting its neighborhood streets and later, the natural scenery of South Louisiana. Gunning's paintings depict a range of local subject matter, such as the Creole cottage-lined streets of the city's historic neighborhoods, passing barges on the Mississippi River, and the serenity of two fishermen in the Honey Island Swamp. This exhibition highlightS Gunning's mastery of the Southern Louisiana landscape, which he has been painting for over thirty years.

2017

A Place and Time Part II - February 2 - May 28, 2017
A Place and Time II follows the trajectory of Southern photography from 1946 to the present. The exhibition will explore the changing post-World War II American South, while highlighting the depth and breadth of the Ogden Museum's permanent collection. Special emphasis will be placed on recent acquisitions to the museum's collection.
Waltzing the Muse: The Paintings of James Michalopoulos Presenting Sponsors - Henry and Pat Shane - March 1 - July 16, 2017
James Michalopoulos is a painter and sculptor based in the city of New Orleans. New Orleans is a city of celebration,” he explains. “It is a city of sensuality. It’s a city of liberty and movement, and I allow all of that to fold into my work.”  His colorful expressive depictions of New Orleans houses – leaning, lurching, almost dancing to an internal rhythm – have become iconic within the visual narrative of his adoptive home. Over the past thirty-six years, Michalopoulos has created a singular body of work with a strong sense of place. He has been chosen as the official artist for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival six times, and his works are held in private and public collections throughout the world. He continues to live and work in New Orleans, and, for the past ten years, has maintained a second studio in the rural Mâconnais district of France. Waltzing the Muse: The Paintings of James Michalopoulos will include works from throughout his career, showcasing his portrayal of the world around him, both natural and built, with an accomplished hand and a singular vision.
Profligate Beauty: Selections from the Collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art - November 19, 2016 - August 20, 2017
This exhibition brings together some of the most important works from the museum's permanent collection in its ongoing effort to tell the story of the South. Inspired by the lush landscape, diverse culture and complicated history of the region, this exhibition celebrates the creative spirit of the artists in the American South.
Louisiana Contemporary Presented by the Helis Foundation. - August 5 - October 23, 2017
Every August the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, in connection with Whitney White Linen Night, hosts its opening reception for its annual exhibition Louisiana Contemporary Presented by The Helis Foundation. Established in 2012, this statewide, juried exhibition promotes contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana, provides exhibition space for the exposition of living artist's work, and engages a contemporary audience that recognizes the vibrant visual culture of Louisiana and the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art center. The juror for 2017 is Shantrelle P. Lewis.
The Colorful South - June 10 - October 26, 2017
The Colourful South explores the role color photography has played in the history of Southern photography and beyond. Featuring five pioneers in color photography William Christenberry, Birney Imes, William Greiner, William Ferris and Alec Soth – this exhibition explores the influence of each photographer upon one another and situates their work in a larger narrative of photography in the South after William Eggleston.
William Eggleston: Troubled Waters - June 10 - October 26, 2017
Released in 1980, four years after Eggleston's landmark exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Troubled Waters, is a glimpse into the photographer's most prolific decade. The Troubled Waters portfolio features fifteen dye transfer color prints. This series portrays rural and roadside life in and around the Mississippi Delta, Memphis and points between. From the collection of William Greiner
Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/Giuffreda Collection Presented by the Helis Foundation - September 30, 2017 - January 21, 2018
Organized by the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art and drawn from the Joyner/Giuffrida collection, Solidary & Solitary tells the history of art by African and African American artists from the 1940s to the present moment. Solidary & Solitary celebrates the achievement of individual artists, the collective history told by their art, and the social changes that have changed the way we understand art history in the broadest sense. It is essential that these histories be told, that the possibilities of individual achievement, collective identity, and genuine, institutional social change be made vivid, concrete, and beautiful. Only by remembering and understanding these histories can we move forward towards a different future, collectively imagined. Exhibited at the Ogden was the first public viewing of one of the most extensive collections of African-American abstract modern and contemporary art. Among the artists included were Norman Lewis, Alma Thomas, Sam Gilliam, Kevin Beasley, Shinique Smith, Leonardo Drew, Jack Whitten and Mark Bradford. The show was presented with the Baltimore Museum of Art. Contributing Sponsors include Hearst & WDSU TV, the Holt Family Foundation and Lambent Foundation.

2018

One Place Understood Photography from the Do Good Fund Collection - March 22 - June 10, 2018
The Do Good Fund, Inc. is a public charity based in Columbus, Georgia. Since its founding in 2012, the fund has focused on building a museum-quality collection of photographs taken in the American South since World War II. The collection ranges from works by more than a dozen Guggenheim fellows to images by less well-known, emerging photographers working in the region. Do Good's mission is to make its collection of over 500 images broadly accessible through regional museums, nonprofit galleries and nontraditional venues and to encourage complementary, community based programming to accompany each exhibition. Featuring photographs by Rob Amberg, Oraien Catledge, Rineke Dijkstra, Carolyn Drake, Jill Frank, Preston Gannaway, Jennifer Garza-Cuen, Carlos Gustavo, Baldwin Lee, Builder Levy, Susan Lipper, Gordon Parks, Eli Reed, Mike Smith, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Rylan Steele, Brandon Thibodeaux, Brooke White and Vanessa Winship.
The Whole Drum Will Sound Women in Southern Abstraction - March 22 - July 22, 2018
Drawn primarily from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's permanent collection – celebrates strong female voices in abstract art in the American South. Moving from the early Abstract Expressionist paintings of Dusti Bongé and Marie Hull to the contemporary works of Bonnie Maygarden and Shawne Major, this exhibition includes work that ranges from the early minimalist compositions of Ida Kohlmeyer to the fresh abstract spaces of Ashley Teamer; from the stained surfaces of Dorothy Hood and Anastasia Pelias to the biomorphic abstractions of MaPo Kinnord and Shawn Hall. Together, these works show a range of studio practices by female artists working in the South within the language of abstraction, and highlights the breadth of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's Permanent Collection. Curated by Bradley Sumrall, Curator of the Collection at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Artists in The Whole Drum Will Sound include Lynda Benglis, Vincencia Blount, Dusti Bongé, Clyde Connell, Sherry Owens, Dorothy Hood, Marie Hull, Bess Dawson, Halcyone Barnes, Lin Emery, Margaret Evangeline, Cynthia Brants, Shawn Hall, Ruth Atkinson Holmes, Jacqueline Humphries, Valerie Jaudon, MaPo Kinnord, Ida Kohlmeyer, Shawne Major, Bonnie Maygarden, Anastasia Pelias, Betsy Stewart, Ashley Teamer and Millie Wohl.
A Precise Vision The Architectural Archival Watercolors of Jim Blanchard - March 8 - August 19, 2018
In celebration of the New Orleans Tricentennial the Ogden honors Jim Blanchard, a contemporary topographical artist known for his architectural watercolors of historic Louisiana buildings. A Precise Vision brings together works from throughout Blanchard's career for the largest exhibition of his work to date. Drawing from both private and public collections, this exhibition tells the story of one man's mastery of his chosen medium, of his obsession with the built environment of his home and of his transcendent combination of history and art. Major Sponsors: Goldring Family Foundation and Houmas House Plantation and Gardens
Salazar: Portraits of Influence in Spanish New Orleans, 1785 - 1802. Presenting Sponsors: Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Patrick - March 8 - September 2, 2018
Presented as part of New Orleans’ tricentennial celebration, Salazar: Portraits of Influence in Spanish New Orleans tells the story of Josef Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza whose career spanned the second half of the Spanish administration of New Orleans. Through a re-examination of about 30 of his most pertinent works, a view of Spanish colonial New Orleans is achieved. His oeuvre is further contextualized in relation to works and other historical artifacts reflective of the city as a site of mobility and transatlantic artistic exchange. The exhibit featured about 30 paintings in the show. Only 50 paintings by Salazar are known to exist.
Doris Ulmann: From the Highlands to the Lowlands - June 21 - September 16, 2018
A native New Yorker, Doris Ulmann traveled through the American South from Appalachia and the Sea Islands of South Carolina to the deep South and New Orleans. Along the way, she photographed the landscape, both natural and built, and made dignified portraits of the region's people. Her work is closely associated with the pictorialist and the social realism movements of the early 20th century. Photographing with a large cumbersome camera, she made lush and dreamy portraits of craftsmen, musicians and other tradespeople throughout the South. This exhibition features photographs loaned by A Gallery for Fine Photography, Joshua Mann Pailet, Jessica Lange and Roger H. Ogden.
Louisiana Contemporary Presented by the Helis Foundation. - August 4 - November 4, 2018
Every August the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, in connection with Hancock Whitney White Linen Night, hosts its opening reception for its annual exhibition Louisiana Contemporary, Presented by The Helis Foundation. The juror for the 2018 exhibition is Courtney J. Martin, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Dia Art Foundation. 2018 accepted artists include Renée Allie, Craig Berthold, Bradley Bowers, Katie Clark, Anita Cooke, Dean Dablow, Marianne Desmarais, Cat Gambel, Mitchell Gaudet, Erfan Ghiasi, Ryan Gianelloni, Southerly Gold, Marcia Holmes, David Knox, Lena Kolb, Justin Lundgren, Bonnie Maygarden, Esther Murphy, Jack Niven, Alex Podesta, Laurel Porcari, Rhenda Saporito, Matthew Shain, Riley Teahan & Natalita and Nell Tilton.
Newton Howard: Painter of the Sportsman's Paradise - September 6, 2018 - January 13, 2019
Newton Howard was a New Orleans painter known for his serene landscapes of the marshes and bayous of South Louisiana. An avid duck hunter, fisherman and conservationist, Howard's paintings evoke the calm solitude he found during countless hours of paddling through the marshes near Lafitte and in the many bayous and other swampy settings of the region. This exhibition brings to view a portion of these works and portrays the cherished locales within the Louisiana coastal marshes and waterways where Newton Howard felt most at home. Major Sponsors: Dr. & Mrs. Walter D. Cockerham.
New Southern Photography - October 6, 2018 - March 10, 2019
New Southern Photography highlights the exciting and diverse breadth of photography being practiced in the American South today. The largest photography exhibition at the Ogden Museum to date, this exhibition features the work of twenty-five emerging, mid-career and established photographers. Each photographer is individually showcased with a monographic installation focusing on a single body of work within the context of a group exhibition. All types of lens-formed imagery are included from traditional analogue and digital still photography to video installation and new media. New Southern Photography is available for travel to other institutions through 2021. According to Time Magazine, the exhibit examined photography "formulating the visual iconography in the modern New South." Among the artists included in the show were Tommy Kah, RaMell Ross, John Chiara, Whitten Sabbatini, and Aaron Hardin. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
BIG - November 29, 2018 - February 17, 2019
Drawn from the Ogden Museum Permanent Collection, BIG is an exhibition highlighting the museum's largest holdings. Assembled together for the first time, this exhibition showcases works that are typically hidden from public view due to their complicated size, and will celebrate artists' endeavors on a grand scale. Artists included are Willie Birch, Nicole Charbonnet, Michael Roque Collins, Clyde Connell, Jeffrey Cook, Robert Gordy, Gregory Saunders, Kendall Shaw and Hunt Slonem, among others. The idea for BIG was born out of a continual challenge most museums face, which is lack of storage space for large scaled works. This exhibition embraces these large scaled works and assembles them in one exhibition for the first time in the museum's history.

Programs and events

Since 2003, the Ogden Museum has hosted Ogden After Hours on Thursday nights from 6 pm to 8 pm. It is a place for Southern musicians who want to showcase new work or break into the New Orleans market. Visitors can enjoy music in such genres as blues, jazz, R&B, country, folk, rockabilly, Cajun, bluegrass, Swamp pop and rock 'n' roll. Musicians who have performed at OAH have included Ellis Marsalis, John Mooney, James Andrews, Jeremy Davenport, Mary Gauthier, Honey Island Swamp Band, Zachary Richard, Helen Gillet, and many more.
Other programming includes "Southern Storytellers", a literary showcase for Southern writers. Previous participants include Ellen Gilchrist, Julia Reed, Tim Gauthreaux, Rick Bragg, Winston Groom, Donna Tartt, among others. "Artists and Sense of Place" puts artists into New Orleans area schools; summer camps focus on art and fashion; and "Films at the O" screens movies that explore the culture of the American South.

Education at the Ogden

The mission of the Ogden Museum Education Department is to create and implement innovative programs designed to bring art and people together to explore the rich and varied cultural identities of the South.
The Ogden Museum Education Department aims to provide student experiences focused on discovering meaning through observation, discussion, and creative response. Additionally, by bringing art into the classroom through outreach programming and by providing support for educators of all subjects and ages, we strive to create a community of learners in which information and knowledge flows back and forth between the museum and the communities we serve.
Education programs include outreach programs such as "Artist and Sense of Place", "Day with an Artist", early childhood enrichment programs, and tours.

Support

Programming is supported by the Helis Foundation, the Goldring Family Foundation, the Ogden Family Foundation, the Woldenberg Foundation, the City of New Orleans' Edward Wisner Donation, a community arts grant made possible by the City of New Orleans and administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans, and by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works.

The Center for Southern Craft and Design

The Center for Southern Craft and Design supports the Ogden Museum's mission to broaden the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the visual arts and culture of the American South by offering talented Southern artisans and designers a platform from which to showcase and sell their work.
The Center hosts a quarterly Artist Spotlight series, which showcases leaders in craft fields including jewelry, ceramics, glassworks, woodworks, metalworks, and textiles, and highlights the important place of craft at the heart of Southern Art. This series allows visitors to fully engage with and learn about the featured artist and their craft, with works shown in both the Center and in the atrium casework within the museum.
Since 2008, the Center has also presented the annual exhibition, Art of the Cup and Teapot Spotlight, featuring two cups by each of the selected Southern ceramicists, this exhibition celebrates the aesthetic and design freedom the ceramic medium offers to enhance everyday routine and highlights the diverse methods artisans use to blur the boundaries of form and function.

Awards and recognition

In 2015, the museum was awarded the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award for the Ogden's Teen Docent Program. Over 350 nominees competed for the award which was presented by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
The Ogden's Teen Docent Program was created in 2008 and had seen over 40 students enrolled at the time of the award. The students interacted with more than 7,000 people through museum tours, outreach programs and summer camps.
Roger Ogden, whose collection was the basis for the founding of the museum, was awarded the Times-Picayune Loving Cup in 2017. The award was created in 1901 to recognize men and women who have worked for the betterment of the New Orleans community.
Ogden was recognized for his years of service with many non-profit organizations as well as his devotion to Southern art and his initial gift to the Ogden Museum of about 600 paintings and sculpture.
The Ogden Museum was selected to receive a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies as part of its Arts Innovation and Management Program. The program will provide operating support and management training through a $43 million multi-year program for institutions across the country. The announcement was made in 2018.