The Evenings with Enrique concert series returns this fall to the New Orleans Botanical Garden in City Park beginning October 6 at 5 p.m. Every subsequent Wednesday through October 27, New Orleans residents and visitors can stroll through The Helis Foundation Enrique Alférez Sculpture Garden and enjoy live Latin music from 5 to 8 p.m. and sculptures by renowned artist Enrique Alférez. Food and beverages are available for purchase from Kitchen in the Garden Eats. The event is free for Louisiana residents, courtesy of The Helis Foundation.

The Botanical Garden will once again host a Day of the Dead Altar in the Garden’s Conservatory October 27–31 to honor the Latin holiday. The altar will be created by Hugo Montero, owner of Casa Borrega. Admission to the Botanical Garden will also be free on these days courtesy of The Helis Foundation.

Fans of Alférez’s work can purchase the recently published Enrique Alférez: Sculptor by Katie Bowler Young on site at “Evenings with Enrique” in the Botanical Gardens’ gift shop. Published by The Historic New Orleans Collection, the book chronicles the life of the preeminent artist.

SCHEDULE:

October 6 | Patrice Fisher & Arpa with special guests Yusa, Juan Soto Bown, Orlando Solorzano, Fran Comiskey, Ecos Latinos, Carlos Valladares
October 13 | Macumba Brazilian trio with musicians from Brazil, Argentina & Germany
October 20 | Vivaz trio with guitarist/singer Javier Gutierrez from Bolivia
October 27 | Manuel Arteaga duo from Venezuela (5–6:20 p.m.) | Gauchos del Tango duo from Argentina (6:30–8 p.m.)

Portable chairs are encouraged. Outside food or drink is not allowed. Enter through the Oscar J. Tolmas Building located at 5 Victory Avenue in City Park.

Enrique Alférez was a Mexican-American artist who lived in New Orleans for almost 70 years. He was active during the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and his sculptures can be found throughout New Orleans, including Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition, and City Park. The New Orleans Museum of Art also recently unveiled the Lapis Center for the Arts which includes Enrique Alférez’s monumental plaster relief mural, Symbols of Communication, restored from the former Times-Picayune building. In October 2015, New Orleans Botanical Garden unveiled The Helis Foundation Enrique Alférez Sculpture Garden, an 8,000-sq.-foot park featuring Alférez’s sculptures set among footpaths surrounded by lush tropical flowers and shrubs beneath a live oak canopy.