Articles on some of the world's most romantic destinations by
professional photographer Eleanor S. Morris

Art Lovers, Surround Yourselves With Art in New Orleans
by Eleanor S. Morris

Beginning with the Renaissance Arts Hotel, the Warehouse Arts District's newest hotel, you'll be surrounded by art. Converted from a former furniture store warehouse built in 1910, the hotel gives the guest rooms the feel of an artist's loft, an especially cozy one with Renaissance beds with feather-top pillow mattresses and down duvets. The rooms and all the areas of the hotel are decorated with the art work of such local luminaries as Ida Kohlmeyer, Allison Stewart, Francis X. Pavy, Lin Emery and Luis Cruz Azaceta, among others.

The four-story glass-enclosed atrium lobby and two sculpture gardens showcase pieces by local and regional artists. all the public areas are bright with design, and even the hotel carpets are a work of art. In addition, the lobby houses the Arthur Roger Gallery on Tchoupitoulas, displaying a permanent collection of regional, national and international artists, appealing to guests with a passion for fine art.

The hotel is right in the middle of the New Orleans Art District, surrounded by more than twenty galleries. For instance, John Stinson Fine Arts of South Peters Street displays 18th, 19th and 20th century European and American artwork and photography, and also appraises artwork and rare books. The Heriard-Cimino Gallery on Julia Street offers contemporary paintings, sculptures and photography by national and international artists, as well as an art consulting service. At LeMieux Galleries you'll find Louisiana and Gulf Coast contemporary artists, along with fine crafts.

Food, too, is an art form here. The hotel's La Cote Brasserie features the talents of three chefs, Rene Bajeux (of Rene Bistrot), Richard "Bingo" Starr (formerly executive chef at Curvee) and Joy Jessup (former pastry chef at the Windsor Court Hotel), all master of the gastronomic art.

The biggest star on the art horizon in New Orleans is the opening of the new Ogden Museum of Southern Art. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, this innovative and unique museum celebrates the region's art, history and culture, with plans to include the most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world. The first exhibition showcases work from 1890 to the present. You'll enter into a 4-story atrium, with all the open sides leading to galleries showcasing paintings, prints, photography, etc. An interesting detail: take a look at the glass brick walls facing the street. In the center you'll see a frame around a piece of clear glass which you can look through and form your own composition of the outdoors.

Opening in September, the New Orleans Museum of Art Sculpture Garden, adjacent to the museum in City Park, will feature 42 sculptures installed among 100-year-old oaks and pines, magnolias and camellias. Valued in excess of $25 million, the garden features works by Henry Moore, Jacques Lipchitz, George Segal and George Rickey. All in all, the five-acre site displays 60 works by leading 20th-century artists. (The garden is open to the public without charge.)

Also at the New Orleans Art Museum, opening in October, is "The Quest for Immortality," an exhibit of Egyptian antiquities, the largest group of antiquities ever loaned by Egypt to North America. See a life-size re-creation of a pharaoh's tomb; a miniature yacht in which a pharaoh could cruise the Nile for all eternity. New Orleans is the exhibit's first Southern stop, and is here for a four month visit. (Advance ticket sales recommended, 800-488-5252.)

Encompassed by art in the hotel and the surrounded by galleries of contemporary and antique art, photography, prints, glassworks, even performing arts (in the Contemporary Arts Center on Camp Street), you might even be inspired to create works of art yourselves.