Can't-Miss Museums for the Holidays That Will Make You Warmer and Smarter
The Soloman Victory Theater at the National World War II Museum. (Courtesy: National World War II Museum)
Baby … it’s cold outside. But things are really warm, cozy, decorated and cultural inside of America’s museums. The holidays are a great time to explore them.
Many of our country’s museums rank among the best in the world. Did you know that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has more than 2 million works on permanent display? At Christmas time, you’ll also find an 18th century nativity scene and a massive holiday display that’s been growing since it began back in 1975. At the Art Institute of Chicago, you can visit some of the tiniest decorations in the world, at their festive, miniature Thorne Rooms.
From Andy Warhol to Vincent Van Gogh, from space exploration to trains, plains and automobiles – there’s nothing like a few hours of incredible art.
We rounded up the most sought after museums on Yahoo, and then contacted each one to find out the latest and greatest exhibits they are adding this season.
10. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark.
(Courtesy: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art)
A bit off the beaten path, this museum is free to the public and set on a stunning piece of land in the Ozarks. The building was designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie, and inside you’ll find five centuries of American art. An exhibit will arrive this winter, until June, featuring 75 artworks by more than 39 influential artists from the late 19th century to the present. The exhibition features masterpieces by some of the most prominent names in art history including Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Joán Miró, Andy Warhol, and Mark Rothko.
However, nothing is more anticipated than the building addition coming here this winter. The museum acquired a rare Frank Lloyd Wright house. They are dismantling it and moving the entire structure to the museum grounds. You can keep up with the progress of this Bachman Wilson house relocation via their website.
9. National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
The original Star Spangled Banner. (Courtesy: National Museum of American history)
Those who adore fashion should hurry to this museum. The display of First Lady Michelle Obama’s second inaugural gown, worn to the January inaugural balls in 2013, will come off view January 19. There’s plenty more to see, however. Nearly 3 million more things – all dedicated to preserving the history and culture of our nation. Some serious items include the original Star Spangled Banner and the original Gettysburg Address, as well as the 1865 Vassar telescope. Some more lighthearted items also call this museum home, from Archie Bunker’s chair to an elephant-shaped car from Disney’s original Dumbo ride.
8. The Newseum, Washington, D.C.
(Courtesy: The Newseum)
It’s not surprising The Newseum landed on TripAdvisor’s list of top 10 museums to visit in 2014. Inside one of Washington D.C.’s most beautiful buildings live thousands of interactive exhibits, spanning six floors. “The Berlin Wall one is always popular, as is our 9-11 gallery,” explains VP of Marketing Scott Williams. Both of those are permanent, but he advises coming this winter. “On February 13, we will open ‘President Lincoln is Dead: the New York Herald Reports the Assassination.’ The Herald put out seven editions in all surrounding the shooting. We will have all seven on display, and it’s the first time they have ever all been displayed together.”
If you have kids, don’t skip the museum’s Be a TV Reporter experience during the holidays. Kids can sit at an anchor desk and read from a real teleprompter. Afterwards, they simply hop online to see how they did.
7. Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
The Smithsonian (Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon at Paramount)
Festive garland lights are up in the main Flight Gallery, but this spot’s more focused on taking you up into the air. If the art of flight suits your fancy, there is no better place to explore this winter. From early aircrafts to space exploration, this museum has wowed guests (and continued to expand and curate) since the late 1940s. “Outside the Spacecraft: 50 Years of Extra-Vehicular Activity” will land here in January, running until June – commemorating the 50th anniversary of landing on the moon. Exhibits on spacesuits, lunar vehicles, the creation of the space stations and the Hubble telescope will all be on display.
6. The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
National Portrait Gallery (Photo: Kevin Harber/Flickr)
Most visitors like to start at the National Portrait Gallery’s famous exhibit: “American Presidents.” It showcases an enhanced and extended display surrounding 43 presidents, starting with Gilbert Stuart’s “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington and continuing to George W. Bush. Five of our most influential presidents are given expanded attention — George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. If you can get there before it closes on January 11, make sure to visit the “Face Value: Portraiture in the Age of Abstraction” exhibit, with more than 50 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures from approximately 1945 to 1975, including works by Alice Neel, Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Beauford Delaney, and Alex Katz.
5. The National World War II Museum, New Orleans
(Courtesy: The National World War II Museum)
Step inside the Stage Door Canteen at the museum for one of their live holiday performances, whether it’s listening to classic carols by the Victory Belles trio or making a night of it over dinner with their big band performances on New Year’s Eve.
Year round, the museum houses the definitive collection of D-Day and WWII artifacts. On Dec. 12, the museum opened a new section, Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters. The first exhibit inside is the Road to Berlin, which covers the entire European Theater. They will bring Road to Tokyo to the Pacific Theater upstairs next winter. The cost to get in is $23 for all museum exhibits, but for $5 more, you join the Submarine Experience “Final Mission.” That one takes you visually, emotionally, and physically on a recreation of the USS Tang, which was the most successful U.S. Submarine during WWII.
4. The USS Midway Museum, San Diego
(Courtesy: USS Midway Museum)
Described as the “floating city at sea,” this museum opened in 2004. The USS Midway was America’s longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, from 1945 to 1992, and there are dozens of aircraft inside, as well as more than 700 events hosted here annually. In late January 2015, the 90-seat Battle of Midway Theater will open on the hangar deck. The 14-minute Voices of Midway film, with holographic narrators and special effects, focuses on the young men who sailed and flew into what became the U.S. Navy’s greatest victory. Theater exhibits include a restored SBD Dauntless dive bomber and F4F Wildcat fighter, the principal aircraft of the Battle of Midway in 1942. Theater admission is included with museum admission.
3. The Art Institute of Chicago
(Courtesy: The Art Institute of Chicago)
For decades, November and December equal the opening of the Holiday Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute. Tiny, perfect-to-scale miniature rooms are built with all the trappings of the season, from a miniscule menorah to itty-bitty mistletoe balls. This year, they welcome a New Mexico room, a New Orleans-themed one, and even a traditional Chinese one to commemorate the Chinese New Year.
Beyond holiday-based events, the Islamic Galleries have also just reopened here, with cornerstone pieces from throughout the history of Islam. This museum also holds the unique honor of having acquired both American Gothic by Grant Wood and Edward Hopper’s famous painting, Nighthawks, within a year of each being created. Both are on permanent display.
Philadelphia Museum of Art (Photo: Graydon Wood)
Paintings by Salvador Dali, sculptures by Auguste Rodin, and an ever-expanding collection of contemporary artwork are all on permanent display here, and even the stairs out front leading up to this museum are famous. They make an appearance in every Rocky movie, when Stallone runs up and down them. In December, you’ll notice a lot of greenery too. The museum has over a dozen 12-foot Christmas trees, decorated in elegant white lights. The best time to visit them is at an Art After 5 Event. The museum hosts holiday-themed gatherings every Friday evening in December.
Related: 8 Wonderfully Weird Museums in Philadelphia
This winter, there’s also an incredibly rare and very large collection of Japanese art on display titled, Ink and Gold: Art of the Kano. It’s running February 16 to May 10, 2015, and it examines a 400-year lineage of painters in Japan – originally patronized by powerful military rulers, The Shoguns.
1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
(Courtesy: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
You could live in New York for a lifetime, visit once a week, and still never see all of the millions of incredible things at The Met.
For thousands of New Yorkers and tourists alike, a visit to the museum’s enormous, decorated spruce tree is a holiday tradition. Loretta Hines Howard began collecting crèche figurines in 1925. Her collection was publically presented during December 1957, and it’s been a staple ever since inside the Met for the holidays.
Related: What a Makeover: Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in NYC Reopens
Our pick for this winter is The Madame Cézanne exhibit, which will run until the 15th of March. Of the 29 known portraits that Paul Cézanne created of his wife, Hortense Fiquet, the museum has 24 on display. There are drawings, paintings and watercolors in the collection.
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