So given my love of really checking out art museums and enjoying them, what are the best ones to check out in the U.S? I'm obviously familiar with Moma and the Chicago museum, but beyond that I'm not sure. Arizona has some great museums, but I'm biased.
It's a great museum to have a membership at. It's really cheap for two people and they've got a nice, comfortable member lounge with hot beverages. My girlfriend and I would go like 15x-20x a year. Easily one of my favorite things in the entire city.
The MET, NYC. Still remains the US premiere fine art museum. You can get lost in it for days. From Egyptian to Modern it has it all.
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. Sensory overload in top tier architecture. I love this place. No photos allowed. They want you soaking it all in, and a tour is definitely recommended. They sell out quick as they never want massive crowds.
MoMA, NYC. Not my favorite, relies a little to heavily on rotating shows. But it's a classic for a reason. Here modern means 1900+
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Amazing museum, easy to navigate, and unless there is a big show like Edward Hopper it's rather empty.
Getty (both locations), LA. Beautiful architecture, interesting views, and fine art. Food is great too.
In Chicago, the Art Institute is like my home museum and always great. The Museum of Contemporary Art also hosts many excellent exhibitions, they were the ones who worked with the V&A to make the David Bowie exhibition for example.
In DC, the National Portrait Gallery/National Museum of American Art is my favorite in the city, it doesn't get nearly as much foot traffic as the National Gallery on the mall and has one of my favorite settings. When I went there a couple years ago I must have been alone in this gallery for at least an hour, looking just at their extensive collection of American folk art.
I'll focus on Wisconsin, tbh the only ones that stack up nationally are the John Michael Kohler Art Center and the Milwaukee Art Museum, but if you're in the neighborhood we have lots of local/regional museums.
In Madison there's the Chazen at UW Madison and the MMoCA Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Chazen has a very solid collection and MMoCA gets some pretty decent contemporary artists, nothing super special though. Both free and just a couple blocks from one another.
In Sheboygan there's the most underrated museum in the state, and my pick for most underrated period, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, which is a fantastic institution that specializes in outsider art. They put together wild exhibitions of strange artworks unlike anything you'll find almost anywhere else. And they have a gallery of porcelain artworks made through Kohler's artist in residency program, which means lots of funny artistic toilets.
I'll never live down the fact that I didn't accept an internship here, what a stupid decision
In West Bend the Museum of Wisconsin Art has some very neat artworks that uniquely speak to Wisconsin culture. Their space is relatively limited, but they make the most of it by putting a decent chunk of their permanent collection visible behind glass, something I wish more museums did.
Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum is very good. Even though they don't do the motions anymore, Santiago's Calatrava's sculptural building is worth seeing even if you don't go inside. Their collection is quite good and they get a fair amount of big blockbuster traveling exhibitions.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
DePaul Art Museum
New Museum
Brooklyn Museum
Queens Museum
MoMA PS1
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art
Neue Galerie New York
Met Breuer
Asia Society
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
Milwaukee Art Museum
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
DePaul Art Museum
New Museum
Brooklyn Museum
Queens Museum
MoMA PS1
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art
Neue Galerie New York
Met Breuer
Asia Society
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
Milwaukee Art Museum
