St. Claude Ave · New OrleansSecond Saturdays
Price: one evening of your time

The St. Claude Art Rag

A handbill for Second Saturday openings, from St. Roch to Arabi.

Every second Saturday, the galleries and art spaces along St. Claude Avenue open their doors together — no tickets, no dress code, just a river of people drifting down the avenue.

This page is the Rag's whole job: what's where, in what order to walk it, and when the Art Bus is running. Hours and lineups shift month to month — the openings are the reliable part. Pick three stops, start upriver, follow the crowd downhill toward Arabi.

The strip

Walk it downhill

Schematic — in crawl order, not to scale. Numbers match the list below. C = Chemical 14 (4315 Royal St.), S = StudioBE (2941 Royal St.) — Royal Street side trips toward the river.

  1. Staple Goods

    1340 St. Roch Ave. · Sat–Sun, 12–5

    Artist cooperative and keepers of the district's own Second Saturday map (see the real map below). The upriver trailhead — good place to park and start.

  2. Farrington Smith Gallery

    1924 St. Claude Ave. · Fri–Sun, 12–6

    A revived vintage storefront near the Marigny end with rotating contemporary shows. Small room, serious hanging.

  3. Second Story Gallery

    2372 St. Claude Ave. (Healing Center, 2nd fl.) · Daily, 9–6

    Artists' cooperative with monthly member shows and juried group exhibitions. A Second Saturday fixture.

  4. UNO St. Claude Gallery

    2429 St. Claude Ave. · Weekends, 12–5

    The University of New Orleans' avenue gallery — MFA thesis exhibitions and student shows, often the most experimental free hour on the corridor.

  5. Aquarium Gallery & Studios

    934 Montegut St. · Hours vary

    Collective gallery and studio building a block off the avenue; a new artist or group takes the walls each month.

  6. Antenna

    3718 St. Claude Ave. · Tue–Sun, 12–5

    Nonprofit gallery and literary-arts hub run by the Antenna Collective — exhibitions, the Paper Machine press, residencies. The Rag's home base and the Art Bus pickup.

  7. Good Children Gallery

    4037 St. Claude Ave. · Weekends

    Scrappy co-op space: installations, video, oddball group shows. Two minutes on foot from Antenna — do them as a pair.

  8. The Front

    4100 St. Claude Ave. · Weekends, 12–5

    Artist-run collective, four rooms, monthly rotations. The clearest window onto what younger New Orleans is actually making.

  9. Paper Machine

    6330 St. Claude Ave.

    Antenna's print shop, press, and second gallery — books, posters, and editions you can actually afford. Worth the drive down-avenue.

  10. Art Conscious Gallery

    6601 St. Claude Ave., Arabi · Mon–Fri, 10–5

    The far-downriver anchor, just over the parish line flavor-wise if not literally. If the crowd is here, stay here a while.

  11. Saturn Bar ★

    St. Claude Ave. · nightcap, not a gallery

    Not a white cube — a legendary dive with a stage and a crowd. End the crawl here. You have earned it.

Side trip C: Chemical 14

Chemical 14 Gallery, 4315 Royal St. (Sat–Sun, 1–6) — a delightfully quirky Bywater room for local artists. Pair it with StudioBE up Royal.

Side trip S: StudioBE

StudioBE, 2941 Royal St. (Wed–Sun, ticketed) — Brandan “BMike” Odums' warehouse of large-scale portraiture and murals. Book ahead; more monument than gallery.

The real map

Staple Goods' district map

Live map and venue list, kept by Staple Goods — same 11 rooms as above, with their hours. When in doubt, trust theirs over ours.

Prefer paper? Download the 2026 PDF map from Staple Goods.

Each fall · free

The St. Claude Art Bus

Once a year Antenna's board puts a bus on the avenue: three evening loops hitting Staple Goods, Antenna, Paper Machine, the Arabi end, and back — free to all, donations keep it rolling. Next run: November 2026 (per Antenna — details posted on their Art Bus page closer to the date).

How Second Saturdays work

  • Openings cluster in the early evening; most rooms are free and walk-in friendly.
  • Park once upriver, crawl downhill. The avenue is long — drive between clusters without shame.
  • Ask one question about one work. Gallerists on St. Claude would rather talk than sell.

Buying on the avenue

St. Claude prices are the friendliest in the city — small works, editions, and prints under a few hundred dollars are normal. Most rooms take cards. If you love something at an opening, say so that night; small editions walk.