NEW ORLEANS, LA—Ogden Museum of Southern Art is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $38,000. This grant will support the Museum’s School and Community Outreach Programs Budget. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants.
Projects like Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s School and Community Outreach Programs exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and wellbeing, infrastructure and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and the National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring people across the country benefit.”
Ogden Museum’s School and Community Outreach Programs include:
Early Childhood Program
Developed in 2008 in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute, this program seeks to enhance literacy, inspire a love of reading and foster an appreciation of art in Pre-K, Kindergarten and First Grade students. The program begins when students read a book in class and continues with a trip to the Museum, connecting themes of the book to artwork in the Museum. These connections are solidified through hands-on art activities in the Museum’s galleries and during post-tour art projects completed in the classroom led by a museum-provided teaching artist. The program often culminates with an exhibition of student work in the Education Gallery where students, parents, faculty and administration are invited to an opening reception to celebrate the completion of the program and the accomplishments of these young Southern artists.
A Day with an Artist Program
This program brings 20-25 middle or high school students from an Orleans or Jefferson Parish public school to the Museum to spend time discussing and making art with an artist. The artist selects three to four works in the Museum for study, including one of their own pieces. After a tour of these works, students participate in a “press conference” lunch with the artist, asking questions prepared in advance or developed during the tour. The day concludes with an art-making workshop led by the artist. The Museum conducts approximately nine Day with an Artist Programs a year.
Artists and Sense of Place Residency Program
Since its inception in 2001, the Artists and Sense of Place Residency Program has employed 27 visual artists to bring a unique experience to over 13,000 students from 57 Orleans and Jefferson Parish public schools. By pairing elementary school students with professional artists to explore the influence of place and geography, this program encourages art appreciation, self-discovery and learning in the visual arts. Instructed by the artist, students create works of art that reflect their school, community, neighborhood or world. At the end of the three- to four-week residency, the students’ creations are displayed in the Ogden Museum Education Gallery and the students tour the Museum to see their work and recognize themselves as Southern artists.
Free Family Days
Four times a year, the Museum hosts Free Family Day, offering family-friendly activities throughout the Museum inspired by a current exhibition. Entertainment is provided by local performers and student groups. Refreshments are available for purchase.
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news. To learn more about Ogden Museum’s School and Community Outreach Programs please visit www.ogdenmuseum.org.
About Ogden Museum of Southern Art
Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana since 1999 and open to the public since 2003, Ogden Museum of Southern Art invites visitors to experience and learn about the artists and culture of the American South. Ogden Museum is home to a collection of more than 4,500 works, making it the largest and most comprehensive repository dedicated to Southern art in the nation, with particular strength in the genres of Self-Taught art, Regionalism, photography and contemporary art. The Museum is further recognized for its original exhibitions, public events and educational programs, which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature and local craft.
Ogden Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is free to Museum Members and admission for Non-Members is $13.50 for adults, $11 for seniors 65 and older, $6.75 for children ages 5-17 and free for children under 5. Prices are subject to change when exhibitions are being rotated.
The Museum is located at 925 Camp Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. For more information visit ogdenmuseum.org or call 504.539.9650.