Right now the Contemporary Arts Center at 900 Camp Street has a banner on its programming page that reads "Galleries closed till November 7th!" The CAC hasn't publicly said why, so this post won't guess. The rest of the building stays open. Starting October 22 it hosts the New Orleans Film Festival hub, and when the galleries reopen on November 7 they do it with two exhibitions on the same evening as the First Saturday Art Walk on Julia Street.
So the CAC splits the district's fall into two parts. First the theaters, then the galleries, and November 7 is the night they line up. If you live within walking distance of Camp Street, the next four weeks have a clear order, and it helps to know it.
October 22 to 27: Use the St. Joseph Street Door
The New Orleans Film Society holds the 37th New Orleans Film Festival in person October 22 through 27. Its online screenings run until November 1. The festival has three venues: the CAC, The Broad Theater, and The Uptown Prytania Theatre. The CAC is the one the society calls the NOFF Hub.
The detail neighbors will want is the entrance. The society says the hub is "accessible through the back entrance on St. Joseph Street," not the Camp Street front. Inside you'll find screenings in the Black Box and Warehouse Theaters, Cinema Reset, free events, panel discussions, and programming for filmmakers. So during festival week, the side of the building where the galleries are closed and the side where the crowds come in face different streets.
The festival is big. The society describes 150-plus films, more than 250 filmmakers attending, and over 12,000 people gathering in person across the six days. It is also Academy Award-qualifying in three short-film categories: documentary, narrative, and animated. Since the CAC hosts the hub, a good share of that activity happens on your block.
A few practical points come straight from the festival's attendee page. Venue box offices open one hour before the day's first screening. They don't take cash or checks, so bring a debit or credit card or use Apple Pay or Google Pay on your phone. Festival customer service runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the in-person dates. Some of the hub's events are free, so a festival night doesn't have to start at the box office.
The Gap Between the Two Parts
Between the last screening on October 27 and the November 7 reopening, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art has the district's main museum programming. It has scheduled the evening event that falls in that window.
On October 29, Ogden After Hours holds a Día de los Muertos celebration with Mariachi Los Primos from 6 to 8 p.m. It pairs with the museum's Traditional Día de los Muertos Altar by Cynthia Ramirez, which is on view through November 6. That's the night before the CAC reopens, so if the altar is on your list, go in the first week of November, not on the busy Saturday.
Two longer Ogden shows will still be up on the 7th and after:
- Louisiana Contemporary 2026, on view through February 14, 2027. Juror Sarah Jones picked 50 works by 45 Louisiana artists.
- The Dream is the Truth, through January 10, 2027. It's a survey of Southern vernacular art by women, drawn from the museum's collection.
The Ogden's November calendar has nothing on Saturday, November 7. The next week it lists two evenings. A Craft Happy Hour block-stamping workshop with Amy Bryan runs November 11 from 6 to 8 p.m., and Live in the Library features the Lost Bayou Ramblers on November 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. In effect, the Ogden is leaving November 7 to the CAC and the galleries.
November 7: The CAC Reopens With Two Exhibitions
The galleries reopen with two shows, and both are firsts.
Great Scott! The Life/Work of Carol Scott runs November 7, 2026, through March 9, 2027. The CAC says it will show more than 40 of Scott's past and current works in various media, and it calls the show the first full retrospective of her work at a major New Orleans cultural institution.
Nic[o] Brierre Aziz: Sweet Surrender runs November 7, 2026, through February 14, 2027. The CAC calls it the Haitian-New Orleanian artist's first institutional solo exhibition. It covers about ten years of work in performance, photography, sculpture, and installation.
The CAC lists both as opening-night events on November 7. At the time of writing, its pages don't give a start time, a ticket price, or details on a member preview. Check the CAC's programming page closer to the date before you plan the evening around a certain hour.
The timing matters because the date belongs to Arts District New Orleans too. Its November First Saturday Art Walk runs 5 to 8 p.m. on Julia Street and the blocks around it. Member galleries and museums are open all day, with opening receptions in that window. Earlier this month, the October art walk on October 3 was combined with Art for Arts' Sake, which the CAC founded in 1980 and Arts District New Orleans has presented since the early 1990s. The CAC's own galleries were not part of the opening list that night. In November they are.
What Opens on Julia Street the Same Night
Arts District New Orleans hasn't published a full gallery-by-gallery list. These four galleries have posted November details on their own sites:
| Gallery | Address | Showing | Dates and reception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrara Showman Gallery | 400A Julia St. | Tony Dagradi, new transposed book sculptures; Michael Tole, new paintings | Oct. 28 to Dec. 5; reception Nov. 7, 5 to 8 p.m. |
| LeMieux Galleries | 332 Julia St. | Annie Heisey, "Common Thread"; Mary Monk, "Between Here and Somewhere" | Nov. 7 to Dec. 19 |
| Gallery 600 Julia | 600 Julia St. | Tim Vaught | Nov. 7 art walk; gallery receptions run 6 to 8 p.m. unless noted |
| Callan Contemporary | 518 Julia St. | Udo Nöger | Nov. 5 to Dec. 28 |
The receptions don't all start at once. The district-wide window is 5 to 8 p.m., but Gallery 600 Julia's site says its First Saturday receptions run 6 to 8 p.m. unless noted. Callan Contemporary's Nöger show opens two days before the art walk, and its listing doesn't mention a separate reception on the 7th. Ferrara Showman's two artists have been up since October 28, so its November 7 reception is for shows that are already open.
There's one housekeeping note. Some Arts District New Orleans gallery pages still have template text that mentions the "first Saturday in September." The November event listing itself gives Saturday, November 7.
Planning the Evening Around the Hours
Because of those staggered times, a walk can start at the 400 block around 5. Ferrara Showman and LeMieux are both there. From there you can head toward Gallery 600 Julia after its doors open at 6, and finish the evening at 900 Camp once the CAC posts its opening-night hours. Pick up Callan Contemporary at 518 Julia on the way.
For dinner afterward, the district's newest serious reservation is a few blocks toward the river. Where Y'at reported in its October 2026 food roundup that chef Yoshi Okai has launched Kira Omakase. It's a 12-seat counter serving a 20-course menu inside Kira, the Japanese-inspired Mediterranean restaurant in the Warehouse District. Okai was born in Kyoto, was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef, and is best known for his work at Otoko in Austin, according to the same Where Y'at report. Where Y'at printed the address as 301 Tchoupitoulas, but the restaurant's own site gives 601 Tchoupitoulas Street. The same site says sake sommelier Dusten Cook, who also came from Otoko, leads the beverage program. A 12-seat counter on an art walk Saturday will probably fill early, so book before the reception hours are posted.
The calendar keeps going after the 7th. The Ogden has Lost Bayou Ramblers in the library on November 14. The National WWII Museum holds its 19th International Conference on World War II November 19 through 21. The Carol Scott retrospective is up until March 9, 2027, so there's time to see it again on a quieter weekday.
If you're weighing a loft or condo near Julia Street and want to know how blocks like these feel on art walk nights and festival weeks, The Kathryn Collection can walk the district with you. Schedule a free consultation with Kathryn.
