Best Museums in US and Canada

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck NS Canada. Best museum I’ve been to and I typically don’t like museums.

I know this isn’t what you were looking for. 😉

We went here recently. I didn't realize he invented all sorts of things, not just telephones. He's a distant cousin familysearch.org tells me.

Thomas Edison's labs are also interesting in NJ (Thomas Edison National Historical Park)
https://www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm

[Anonymous]

Barnes-hater here: not saying you shouldn't go; I just find it too overwhelming with too many Renoirs. I'm serious that I love the building. And I love Philly's museum setup, with the Barnes and Rodin right next to each other and the PMA at the end of the Ben Franklin Pkwy and a free bus that takes you around to all the sites. Definitely go and see what you think of it!

Other thoughts prompted by New England posters above:

The Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, ME (right near Bowdoin)
Hancock Shaker Village near Pittsfield, MA
Historic Deerfield, MA
The Clark in Williamstown, MA
Shelburne Museum of Folk Art, Shelburne, VT

[Anonymous]

DeCordova sculpture park and museum, Storm King

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barnes-hater here: not saying you shouldn't go; I just find it too overwhelming with too many Renoirs.

The dude loved Renoir. I don't think your opinion is at all representative of what I have heard from 20+ other museum people (and museum directors) regarding the Barnes collection. But there are plenty of Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Monet, Seurat and Modigliani in case someone else has your weird issue with Renoir.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VMFA - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts - in Richmond.

And the history museum next door.

[Anonymous]

The best museums in the US are in DC, the national gallery being #1 and all the Smithsonians.
Then, NYC MoMA.
Phila has some nice ones but they pale in comparison to Nat Gal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VMFA - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts - in Richmond.

And the history museum next door.

It's not really a museum per se, but the Lewis-Ginter Botanical Gardens nearby in Richmond are also worth a visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barnes-hater here: not saying you shouldn't go; I just find it too overwhelming with too many Renoirs.

The dude loved Renoir. I don't think your opinion is at all representative of what I have heard from 20+ other museum people (and museum directors) regarding the Barnes collection. But there are plenty of Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Monet, Seurat and Modigliani in case someone else has your weird issue with Renoir.

Wasn't meaning to start a fight about Barnes or Renoir. I LOVE this thread and all the suggestions, and it brightens my week to know there are so many people as into museum-centered road trips as I am, including OP's family.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read all the replies.

ROM in Ontario

natural history museum in NYC

Field Museum in Chicago

Air Force Museum in Dayton

Glass flower collection at Harvard

Penn Museum in Philly

I have heard that the City Museum in St Louis is great.

[Anonymous]

Not a specific recommendation but look at ASTC museums in your area and check out membership. The ASTC has a fantastic reciprocal membership program that grants free admission outside of 90 miles of your home and member museums. It can be a huge cost saver as places like the Museum of Science and Industry or the Field Museum can cost $100 for a family of four.

Museum recs in no order:
Atlantis - National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Dallas - Perot Museum
Chicago - Field Museum, Art Institute
NYC - Tenement Museum
Cleveland - Great Lakes Science Center (mostly only if really big into space)
DC - Museum of the American Indian
Arizona - not a museum but Taliesin West might as well be a museum
California - Monterey Bay Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences

[Anonymous]

Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford (ridiculous name aside) in Dearborn, MI are fantastic visits in the summer

[Anonymous]

Ottawa is definitely an underrated museum city. The Canadian War Museum is fantastic. We also enjoyed the Canadian Museum of History. Their National Gallery is also good, though I think the one in DC is better. Don’t forget to tour Parliament, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best museums in the US are in DC, the national gallery being #1 and all the Smithsonians.
Then, NYC MoMA.
Phila has some nice ones but they pale in comparison to Nat Gal.

You might need to travel a little more…

[Anonymous]

Peace & Justice (Lynching Memorial) in Montgomery, Alabama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Favorite art museums: Philadelphia Museum of Art, MFA Boston, Cleveland Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art. All museums that are less overwhelming than the Met by a long shot, very well run/excellent visitor experience. MIA in particular is probably not on one's radar, but it's absolutely worth a visit. Its setting right in the city will give you a sense of the attractions of Minneapolis-St. Paul if you're considering Macalester or UMN.

Oh, and the AGO Toronto. When I lived in Toronto 25 years ago it wasn't much to write home about, but a major remodel and bequest of additional collections has bumped it into my favorites category. Right near Kensington Market, so lots of fun places to eat and explore nearby. (Skip the ROM.)

Also in Toronto: the Bata Shoe Museum! Really!

Also in Philly: I dislike the Barnes collection, but I love their new building. And I completely adore the Rodin Museum next door: one artist, one beautiful building, a rest for the eyes after the Barnes. And the National Museum of American Jewish History is very good. I unexpectedly ended up spending most of a day there engrossed in exhibits.

Near Swarthmore: the Brandywine River Museum, in a beautiful old mill building on Brandywine Creek, and not far from there the Delaware Art Museum in a suburban neighborhood in Wilmington. Both strong on the history of American illustration (the Wyeths, Howard Pyle) and Pre-Raphaelites. Both small enough to spend an hour or so and have lunch or coffee between other appointments. And Winterthur is about halfway between the two. All very close together.

New York, besides the obvious biggies: the Tenement Museum! Book a tour early if you know you're going to be in the city.

If you're going to see Oberlin, the Allen Art Museum right on the main square in town is definitely worth a visit, and if you can get a ticket to see the Usonian house by Frank Lloyd Wright, grab the chance.

If you're driving up to Ithaca, plan to see the Corning Museum of Glass on the way.

The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is an experience that has stayed with me. It incorporates the Lorraine Motel where MLK was shot, so it effectively combines a museum of the Civil Rights movement with a memorial site. Everybody should go at some point.

This is everything I would have written. The Allen Memorial Art Museum is indeed great. I attended Oberlin and even though I've been a dozen times I was never bored. And the Art History Library is epic.