The Smithsonian is wonderful. These places are extraordinary and empty.
America has an extraordinary density of world-class museums outside the famous institutions that absorb the majority of visitor attention. While tourists queue for hours at the most famous addresses, museums with genuinely remarkable collections and dramatically smaller crowds sit in cities and towns across the country offering experiences that rival and sometimes surpass the famous institutions. Here are nine that deserve far more attention than they receive.
The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Houses one of the most extraordinary collections of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art in the world — assembled by Albert C. Barnes in the early 20th century with a specific educational philosophy that still shapes the presentation today. The collection includes more Renoir paintings than France, more Cézannes than any museum outside France, and a significant Matisse collection. It is not well-known outside art circles. It is one of the great art experiences in America.
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas
Has a collection of American painting and photography that rivals any institution in the country. The Russell and Remington Western art collection is the most significant outside the field’s premier institutions. The photography collection includes work by every major American photographer. Admission is free. The crowds are minimal.
The Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee
Occupies a stunning Art Deco building and presents major traveling exhibitions that rival what major metropolitan museums offer, with a fraction of the crowds and a building that is itself worth seeing. Nashville’s rapid growth has not yet translated into appropriate recognition for a museum of this quality.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas
Was built by the Walmart fortune in the Ozark hills and contains a collection of American art from colonial portraiture through contemporary installation that is genuinely world-class. The building by Moshe Safdie is extraordinary. The grounds with walking trails through the Ozark woodland are beautiful. Admission to the permanent collection is free.
The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas
Is one of the great private art collections in American history — assembled by John and Dominique de Menil over decades — presented in a Renzo Piano building in a quiet Houston neighborhood. The collection spans antiquity to the contemporary with particular strength in Surrealism. The Rothko Chapel adjacent to the museum is one of the great spaces for contemplation in America. Admission is free.
The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts
In the Berkshire hills houses a collection of French Impressionist painting, American painting, and silver that would be the headline attraction in any major city. The setting in the Berkshire hills is magnificent. The crowds are minimal outside of fall foliage season. The new gallery building by Tadao Ando is a work of architecture worth the trip alone.
The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona
Is dedicated to the art and culture of Native peoples of the American Southwest and is the most important institution in the country for understanding and appreciating this extraordinary artistic tradition. The collection is magnificent. The programming is thoughtful and developed in active partnership with the communities whose culture is represented.
The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland
Is dedicated to self-taught, outsider, and visionary art — the art made by people who were not trained, not credentialed, and not interested in the art world’s opinion of their work. The collection is eccentric, moving, funny, and profound in ways that no formally trained museum collection can be. It is the most genuinely surprising museum in America.
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada
Is exactly what its name suggests — a collection of historic Las Vegas neon signs from casinos, hotels, and businesses that are no longer operating. In a city that routinely demolishes its own history, the Neon Museum has preserved a visual record of Las Vegas from the 1930s through the present. A nighttime tour is one of the most visually spectacular museum experiences in America.
Go to the small museum. It is almost always better than the line outside the famous one.
