NEW ORLEANS, LA.- The New Orleans Museum of Art will offer free admission to all through January 18, 2009. The dates of the free admittance offer, which began November 1, coincide with both Prospect.1 New Orleans, the international contemporary art biennial which is free at all of its 25 venues throughout the city, and Objects of Desire: Fabergé from the Hodges Family Collection, an exhibition of 108 precious objects by famed master jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé.

“We are so pleased to be offering free admission to all of our visitors,” said E. John Bullard, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director. “The holiday season is the perfect time for families and friends to check out both of these important exhibitions, and to rediscover our permanent collection. The best part of being free is that people can visit repeatedly without any hardship and really engage with the artworks intimately.”

Through the generosity of The Helis Foundation, the Museum has been free to Louisiana residents (except during select blockbuster exhibitions) since its reopening following Hurricane Katrina. After January 18, 2009, the Museum will revert to free admission for Louisiana residents and a modest charge for out-of-state visitors. The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden has always been free to everyone.

In addition to Prospect.1 and Objects of Desire, other exhibitions on view between now and January 18 include Photography and Depression, Prints Past & Prints Present: Limited Editions from Louisiana (co-organized with The Historic New Orleans Collection), Seeking the Light: Studio Glass by Luke Jacomb (through Jan. 4), and A Taste for Excellence: A Tribute to Louisiana Collector H. Speed Lamkin (through Jan. 10).

Several other Museum galleries have recently been reinstalled. The third floor now showcases numerous objects that have returned after four years on the road as part of the traveling exhibition Resonance from the Past: African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art, as well as a selection of early Indian bronzes on loan from the collection of Dr. Siddharth Bhansali. The second floor’s modern and contemporary galleries have been completely made over, and the Fabergé Gallery will soon reopen with work by both Fabergé and other renowned Russian silversmiths.