Art Excursions, Inc.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Perfect Timing: Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday

It’s a fact that every year is an American-centered one for our business since we travel exclusively in the United States. However, we aim to celebrate our Nation’s 250th birthday in style! Therefore, in planning our entire 2026 schedule, we want to connect you with cities that are truly unique to the United States. (Above image from: neworleans.com)

NOLA certainly fits the bill as it celebrates America’s art and history in several ways:

1. -Its blend of European, Native American and African cultures makes NOLA unlike any other U.S. city
   

2. -Showcasing remarkable personal-turned-public collections amassed by visionary Americans, including Sydney and Walda Besthoff and Roger Ogden
   

3. -Originating the uniquely American art form of jazz and inspiring works of art depicting the jazz and blues scene
   

The Fine Art of Food: a French Quarter Culinary History Tour

We have arranged the perfect French Quarter experience: a walking tour focusing on the history, culture and architecture of this amazing city PLUS the nourishment to keep you going -- courtesy of some of the city's legendary restaurants . You will learn AND taste the differences between Creole and Cajun cuisine and experience the ethnic influences that make this cuisine a national treasure.  As our accommodations are in The French Quarter, this walking tour experience serves as an overview of your home base for the tour’s duration.

A Private Tour and Lunch at Degas House Hosted by the Artist’s Great-Grandniece

The son of a native Creole from New Orleans, Edgar Degas was the only French Impressionist to visit The United States. Enjoy a private guided tour by Degas’ great-grandniece of the home where he stayed with his relatives in the early 1870s. The time he spent in New Orleans was very productive. It yielded 4 drawings and 18 paintings including “The Cotton Exchange” which was inspired by his uncle Michael Musson’s cotton office.

The Degas-Musson House has been distinguished by The French Ministry of Culture and is included in the French National Order of Arts and Letters. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Images of the Jazz Age at The New Orleans Jazz Museum

Since its opening in the 1960s, The New Orleans Jazz Museum has steadily built up a collection of artwork (including paintings, photographs and prints) that expresses the spirit of New Orleans jazz music and documents various performers and historic venues. The museum itself is a historic venue as it occupies the Old U.S. Mint Building which dates from the 1830s. Enjoy a private guided tour focusing on museum highlights. (Pictured: a detail from “Dixie's Bar of Music” by Xavier Gonzalez. Image from nolajazzmuseum.org press release)

The New Orleans Museum of Art

Opened in 1911, The New Orleans Museum of Art, the city’s oldest fine arts institution, has a permanent collection of nearly 40,000 objects. The collection is noted for its strengths in French and American art, photography, glass, and African and Japanese works. Enjoy a private guided tour of museum highlights including works by artists such as Modigliani, Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Magritte, Braque, Miro, and of course Degas.

NOMA has developed a unique Arts of the Americas collection, surveying the cultural heritage of North, Central and South America from the pre-Columbian period through the Spanish Colonial era. This collection is especially rich in objects from the Mayan culture of Mexico and Central America, and in painting and sculpture from Cuzco, the Spanish capital of Peru. An important part of the Museum’s display of American art is a suite of period rooms featuring 18th and 19th century furniture and decorative arts. (Pictured: The museum’s main facade with a Roy Lichtenstein outdoor sculpture partially visible.)

Photo credit: neworleans.com

The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

The five-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden is one of the most important sculpture installations in the United States, with over 60 sculptures situated on a beautifully landscaped site with meandering footpaths, lagoons, Spanish moss-laden 200-year-old live oaks, mature pines, magnolias, camellias, and pedestrian bridges.

Art historian and tour director Jeff Mishur provides a private guided tour featuring works by Oldenburg, Magritte, Moore, Renoir, Noguchi, Hepworth, Bourgeois and others. (Image: George Segal’s “Three Figures and Four Benches” from neworleans.com)

Ogden Museum of Southern Art

The Ogden Museum of Art exhibits the work by artists from or associated with fifteen southern states and the District of Columbia.  It is based upon the founding donation of more than 1,100 works from New Orleans businessman Roger H. Ogden's private collection. The collection now includes more than 4,000 works donated from individuals and collectors from across the U.S.

The museum also includes the Center for Southern Craft and Design and the Patrick F. Taylor Library, designed by American 19th-century architect H.H. Richardson.  One of only six libraries designed by Richardson in America, this library is the only one located in the South. Richardson influenced a generation of architects and laid the foundation for his successors, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Photo credit: "Ogden Museum of Southern Art" by ajay_suresh is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Art of the Cup -- The 19th Annual Juried Exhibition and Sale

Since 2007, The Center for Southern Craft and Design at The Ogden Museum of Art has sponsored a juried exhibition for Southern ceramicists. The timeframe of this year’s exhibition was just announced at the end of June 2026. Artists can submit work made within the past two years to the jury starting on July 28. The jury will have approximately two months to decide on what artworks to include in the exhibit which will open in late October.

Artworks will be available for purchase in person during our tour. Images may be released ahead of time for phone orders. Please contact us for more details if you are wanting to purchase an item from the exhibition before you see the artworks first-hand.

If you are a Southern ceramicist who would like to submit your work (or you know of one), please visit the following page (which is where you’ll find the above three images of “Reishi Mushrooms” by Ash Trowel): https://ogdenmuseum.org/art-of-the-cup-2026/

Boutique accommodations in The French Quarter

Art Excursions understands that our choice of accommodations contributes to the overall experience of the boutique tours we design and lead. Consequently, our clients have come to expect a high standard of hotel as well as a location that is ideal for walking to shops, galleries, museums, restaurants, theaters and concert venues.

In New Orleans, we have selected a boutique property in a perfect French Quarter location -- that is, in a quiet section of town but within walking distance of the district’s great architecture, attractions, galleries, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. As it has been for nearly three centuries, the Quarter is today a vital center of commerce, culture, festivals and history.

Our hotel is ranked in the top tier of New Orleans accommodations by Tripadvisor and other travel websites and publications.

Tour Study Leader and Host -- Art Historian Jeff Mishur

Art historian Jeff Mishur, co-owner of Art Excursions, hosts this tour. Jeff is a sought-after guide for private tours of architecture, public sculpture and museum collections. He is also one of the Chicago area's most popular lecturers on art and architecture. Art Excursions is pleased to offer as part of this small group tour itinerary multiple private guided museum tours by Jeff.

TOUR INCLUDES

1. ‣Accommodations in The French Quarter for 3 nights
   

2. ‣Admissions to venues and exhibitions with private tours as highlighted above
   

3. ‣Commentaries about various itinerary highlights by Jeff Mishur
   

4. ‣A welcome dinner
   

5. ‣Daily breakfast
   

6. ‣Two lunches
   

7. ‣Transportation to and from all itinerary elements not within walking distance
   

8. ‣Independent time to take in what you like at each event on the itinerary
   

9. ‣Driver gratuities
   

10. ‣The opportunity to add extra pre or post-tour nights at a group rate
    

TOUR DOES NOT INCLUDE

Gratuities for tour guides and hotel staff; incidentals at hotel; costs for items not specified above; airfare and airport transfers. We can book airfare on your behalf if you prefer not to make your own arrangements.  We do charge a $50 per ticket booking fee for this service.

TOUR PRICING

$2,150 per person (based on double occupancy)

$325 single supplement

A NOTE ABOUT BOOKING FLIGHTS

We know some clients have a tendency to look into airfares before even signing up for our tours. We wish to offer a reminder that airfares fluctuate daily. The old theory that the earlier one books a flight, the lower fare they will pay does not apply in our era. Fare prices are driven by sale periods that are announced periodically by a given carrier and then matched by other carriers.

TRAVELING AS A SINGLE?

Our boutique tours are ideal for single travelers, singles traveling together, or couples. We typically have a mix of these types of travelers. If you wish to know why we charge a single supplement or have any other questions, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page or email us.

TOUR RESERVATIONS

Group size is limited. Reservations accepted first-come, first-served. For more details please email artexcursions@yahoo.com or call 630/671-9745.

READY TO SIGN UP?

Great! Just email us at ae-news@artexcursions.com or artexcursions@yahoo.com and we’ll follow up with a tour application. Our phone number is 630.671.9745