Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans

Jennifer Green _{on Google}

Mar 17th, 2024

I love museums, especially art museums.
But: this Contemporary Arts Center was such a disappointment for content.
The building is good, the location in the Central Business District by the WWII Museum is great, however the actual quality of the exhibits we saw was not worth the sacrifice of an afternoon in New Orleans where we could have been doing other things.
I'm glad the exhibits were celebrating black identity and life in New Orleans, but both exhibit levels presented a very homogenous way of showing that through photography. There were some excellent photographs, but the majority were more at a student art exhibit level. If the curator had been more selective, more creative with adding in related art in other mediums which complemented the exhibit theme while adding depth to the exhibit, it would have had a much greater impact on us.
This felt like an exhibition space of good intentions but not enough passion and excellence in execution.
Maybe the CAC does not have a permanent collection, but instead offers only rotating temporary exhibits? Perhaps there have been other very exciting exhibits which we missed, but which still make the CAC worth catching when the right exhibit comes along.
I hope so, because we all need more art museums in the world not less, and this must have been very expensive to found and patronize! And there are so many artists out there who deserve representation that they seldom receive.

Senobia _{on Google}

Mar 12th, 2024

It is a beautiful event space for private or public functions. Take time to look around at the art in the gallery and appreciate the beauty of the building.

Jamie Richard _{on Google}

Mar 1st, 2024

Amazing space that hosts really cool events