Visiting Art Museums: Which Ones, Why, and How?
A short guide on museum locations and memberships
Visiting museums isn’t just for appreciating aesthetics and history. You can use museums to make decisions and understand your subconscious. BowTiedBull had a fantastic article on this topic. Here’s the archived link —> https://archive.ph/kkP93
Read it? Great. Now, you might be wondering which museums to visit and how.
Almost anywhere is fine, as long as it has a large and varied collection. Ideally you want to head to a place that’s easily accessible. The more convenient the location, the faster you can get started. If you live in the middle of nowhere, you might have to hop on a plane or go on vacation for best results. Depends on your personal situation.
Non-art museums can work too. They just don’t have the same level of variety and aesthetic value, generally speaking.
Where to go
Here’s an incomplete list of recommendations that I vouch for. There are many other options, but I think the below should be at the top of everyone’s list. In some cases you’ll need multiple days if you want to see the entire collection.
East Coast USA
Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York
Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania
National Gallery of Art in Washington DC
West Coast USA
Getty Museum in Los Angeles
England
British Museum
National Gallery
Victoria and Albert Museum
Northwest Europe
The Louvre in Paris
Musée d'Orsay in Paris
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Southern Europe
Literally anywhere in Italy or Greece should be good
Mexico
Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City
This should be a fair starting point. Canada isn’t real btw
Let me know in the comments if you have recommendations. My experience outside of Europe and North America is limited.
Where NOT to go
Heavily specialized collections aren’t good for decision-making because they’re so limited. European castles for example are great to visit, yet will never be on the same level as The Louvre in terms of art. Even within the same city, the Morgan Library and The Met aren’t on a comparable scale.
I also disavow all contemporary art collections because they have little to no aesthetic value. Some pieces may have meaning, but they’re not beautiful - so if you can get meaning WITH beautiful art, then it’s utterly pointless to see ugly art even if it may have some utility.
Some museums I don’t recommend for most people:
MoMA - NYC, USA
Whitney Museum - NYC, USA
Dia:Beacon - Beacon, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Tate Modern - London, England
Guggenheim - Bilbao, Spain
Palacio de Bellas Artes - Mexico City, Mexico
These might be worth one visit but they aren’t as valuable as going elsewhere.
How and when to go
Look up other nearby attractions and restaurants if you expect to spend a full day in the area.
Some banks give free access to museums.
Bank of America has an Arts and Culture program. “Museums on Us is available to Bank of America, Merrill or Bank of America Private Bank (U.S. Trust) credit or debit cardholders during the first full weekend of every month. One free general admission is limited to the individual cardholder.” Museums may be busier than usual at these times.
Citigold private clients can access 7 institutions for free, but they’re not the best options.
Capital One Venture X holders can get 6 free months of membership to The Cultivist. This allows free access to 100+ museums around the world (with up to 3 guests) along with a few minor benefits, including virtual studio visits.
There’s also Smithsonian Museum Day. One day a year, you can get access to many museums for free. The most recent was Saturday, September 17th, 2022. Museums can be overcrowded on days like this, so it’s not recommended unless you’re on a limited budget.
If you plan to visit multiple museums in a year, consider membership. Not only does this support the museum, it can streamline your travels. Many upper-tier museum memberships allow members to visit other places for free.
The most common reciprocal museum programs are:
NARM (North American Reciprocal Museums Program)
ROAM (Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums)
This lets you enter 1,000+ North American museums and historical sites for free. (You may still need to book advance reservations, so keep an eye out.)
The least expensive option I know about is the Penn Museum’s “Friends and Family” $150 tier. This includes entrance to the Frick Museum, Valley Forge, Washington Crossing, and many more in NARM and ROAM. This membership is fully tax-deductible and isn’t location-based. Anyone in the US can buy membership.
For even more options, Ringling’s $200 membership tier gives access to:
North American Reciprocal Program (NARM)
Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM)
Museum Alliance Reciprocal Program (MARP)
Southeastern Reciprocal Membership Program (SERM)
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s “Keystone” membership tier ($250 with $186 being tax deductible) includes admission to The Met and 50+ other museums. The Met has a similar program except it’s more than double the price for some mysterious reason (hint: it’s NYC).
My favorites are The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. If you’re visiting either NYC or Philadelphia, it’s simple to get between both of them (Amtrak, bus, etc). If you get both the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Penn Museum memberships, for $400 total, that covers 2-4 people for 12 months at over 1,000+ locations. This more than pays for itself after a few trips, and $336 is tax-deductible.
Donating more money has more benefits, of course, if you’re able and willing. This gives you more influence to prevent nonsense oozing into museums, and you’ll have access to similarly wealthy patrons.
Museums are good for all socioeconomic classes. Whether you’re a family on a budget, or a philanthropist willing to drop $25,000 for one year, there are plenty of benefits for both.
Bonus tip: American National Parks
There are 2,000+ parks and wildlife refuges in the United States. The annual pass is $80 and covers 2-4 people, depending on which parks you’ll visit. Some people (such as active or retired military) can get free passes.
Conclusion
Find a nearby place with a variety of works that spans hundreds of years of history. It should take less than an hour to get there, and more than an hour to see the entire museum. Don’t be a tourist. Really absorb what you see and reflect upon it.
If you can’t decide which museum to visit, check out The Met or Louvre, depending on which hemisphere you reside in.
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Great article, couple of extra museums:
Ashmolean in Oxford is like a smaller version of the British Museum, very varied collections, free entry. The other museums in Oxford are too specialised, but the Pitt-Rivers is interesting.
Japan: Tokyo National Museum in Ueno is a bit dry but has varied collections and isn’t expensive.
Dang nothing else in NY worth checking out? I was gonna spend lot of time there in next trip. Now idk what to do. Any other based recommendations?