A pilgrim's guide to Museum Month in New Orleans
- Aimee Boudreaux MacIver
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
What is Museum Month in New Orleans?
Rejoice, I bear tidings of great joy: it's August in New Orleans, which means we get 31 days for both Coolinary and Museum Month!
What is Museum Month? Only the single best way to immerse yourself in New Orleans' array of incredible museums. Every day in August, a membership at any participating city museum gives you plus a guest free access to all other articipating museums. Plus: every single one of the city's museums offers not only rich history, art, and cultural encouters, but also free ice-cold AC.
Museums range from world-class history stars like the National World War II Museum and the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum to art masters like Studio Be, the Ogden, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. And there are a host of delightfully quirky gems—the Sazerac House, the Pharmacie Museum—that many locals drive past for years without ever walking in. In all, more than 30 museums participate, which means you could pick a new one every single day of the month.
How to make the most of Museum Month in New Orleans
A few ways to make the most of Museum Month:
Choose a membership wisely. If you don't already have an annual membership at any of the participating museums, enroll in the least expensive one. It doesn't really matter if your chosen membership museum is one you're especially interested in. A Friends of the Cabildo membership is $50 while the equivalent at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center is $100, but both give you the same universal access. Click here to become a museum member.
Bring your membership. Show proof (physical or digital) of your active annual membership from a participating museum at each location.
Go with someone, but rotate guests by genre. The program gives you and one guest free general admission all month long. (Special exhibits or events may have extra fees.) Rotate companions according to who would enjoy the specific museum most. Bring your kid to the Louisiana Children's Museum, your dad to the Backstreet Cultural Museum, or your sister to the Ogden.
Be a good guest. Remember that each museum may have unique rules for taking photos, eating and drinking, and accessibility.
Get a museum passport to win prizes. You can pick up a museum passport at your first visit, then collect stamps as you visit others. Once you have 10 stamps, you can enter a lottery for prizes.
Most importantly, go differently and make Museum Month a pilgrimage.
When you go differently, many of the participating museums can help you make any place a pilgrimage.
St Frances Cabrini and her sisters once owned and worked from the Pitot House.
The New Orleans African American Museum and the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum help you better understand the world of St Katharine Drexel's ministry to Black Catholics.
The Old Ursuline Convent Museum is housed in the original convent of the first religious sisters in the United States, the Ursulines from Rouen, France.
The New Orleans Museum of Art exhibits many important sacred artworks.
1850 House shows you what New Orleans looked like around the time Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos ministered in the city.
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