Museums, Charlotte

Experience the wonders of an aquarium, zoo, science museum, and 3D theatre all in one attraction! See sharks, penguins, otters, stingrays, a fishing cat and other amazing animals from around the world in NEW The Wiseman Aquarium. Get eye-to-eye with tigers, meerkats, monkeys, crocodiles and other unique animals in Animal Discovery Zoo. Roam through Dinosaur Gallery, take a journey through the human body, experience extreme weather, and have fun in Kid’s Alley in the Museum. Watch amazing 3-D shows that pop out of the screen in the OmniSphere Theatre. https://www.visitgreensboronc.com/things-to-do/animal-discovery-zoological-park-at-the-greensboro-science-center/

xperience a world of adventure filled with dinosaurs, live animals, cultural artifacts, hands-on science explorations and films in a state-of-the art 4K Giant Screen Theater Take a walk on the wild side as you explore 75 acres of new outdoor nature adventures featuring elevated tree pods, boardwalks, interactive exhibits and giant old-growth trees. http://fernbankmuseum.org/

The Atlanta History Center is located in one of Atlanta’s most vibrant neighborhoods where the stories, mysteries and crusades of our region thrive. Our 33-acre experience features award-winning exhibitions, historic houses, enchanting gardens, interactive activities and a variety of year-round adult and family programs. http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/visit-us

The Museum of the Jimmy Carter Library provides a unique experience for the visitor. Through immersive exhibitions of objects, documents, and photographs, videos, and beautiful gifts from world leaders, visitors can get a close-up view of the modern American Presidency. Highlights include a life-size replica of the Oval Office, a dramatic “Day in the Life of the President” presentation on 13 ft. screens, a walk-through cabin setting for the crucial Camp David Meetings exhibition, and an Interactive Map Table that takes you with the Carters to monitor elections and fight diseases. The Presidential Library is nestled between two lakes on 30 acres of parkland and provides a tranquil setting with a view of the Atlanta skyline. Changing exhibits are drawn from the library and museum collection or are based on themes relating to the presidency and American history. https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/museum/

From a stately home on Peachtree Street to its current award-winning buildings in a spectacular setting, the High Museum of Art in Midtown Atlanta has become the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States. The High boasts a celebrated collection of classic to contemporary art, as well as renowned architecture by Richard Meier and Renzo Piano. With a dynamic schedule of special exhibitions, an extensive collection, innovative educational and family programs, meeting and event facilities, the Museum Shop, and several dining options, there is something for everyone at the High. https://www.atlanta.net/partner/high-museum-of-art/185/

The Center for Civil and Human Rights is an engaging cultural attraction that connects the American Civil Rights Movement to today’s global human rights movements. The Center uses interactive exhibits and cutting-edge technology that enables visitors to find inspiration in each story. The Civil Rights gallery presents the brave fight for equality during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Sit at a lunch counter and experience the intensity of a replicated sit-in. The Human Rights gallery aims to help visitors achieve a deeper understanding of human rights issues and how they affect the lives of every person. https://www.civilandhumanrights.org/

The Delta Flight Museum offers a one-of-a-kind experience. Features include interactive exhibits and rare artifacts, cutting-edge technology, unique event spaces and an innovative focus on the future of aviation. At the Museum guests can get an up-close look at historic aircraft dating back to the 1920s, fly the only Boeing 737 flight simulator open to the public, host events in a distinctive setting that offers historic glamour with modern appeal and shop for unique aviation souvenirs. http://www.deltamuseum.org/

Although donations are suggested for entry into this colossal museum, there is no admission charge. As soon as you enter the Museum of the Bible through its 40-foot bronze doors, its majesty is undeniable. Beyond its awe-inspiring grand lobby, you will find 430,000 square feet of exhibits that cover the history of the Bible, its many narrative forms and its impact on societies around the world. https://www.museumofthebible.org/

Explore the natural world around you, discover dinosaur fossils and more at this free gem on the National Mall. The museum contains some of the most famous artifacts in the world. The Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals has the supposedly cursed Hope Diamond on display. Meanwhile, Q?rius, the museum’s education center, offers teens and tweens a lab where they can make their own scientific discoveries. Other permanent exhibits include an insect zoo and The Sant Ocean Hall, which features an exact replica of a living North Atlantic right whale. https://naturalhistory.si.edu/

On the first Sunday of the month, one of the District’s most intriguing museums waives its admission charge. During Free Community Day, the National Museum of Women in the Arts opens up its collection and features programs that connect to its current exhibitions, helping you to discover the immense impact that women have on the world of art. https://nmwa.org/

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is the definitive home of America’s music, safeguarding more than 2.5 million priceless artefacts, including countless recordings and photographs, numerous stage costumes, musical instruments, and more. http://www.visitmusiccity.com/visitors/thingstodo/listing?bid=3912

Officially authorized by the estate of Johnny Cash, the museum features the most comprehensive collection of Johnny Cash artefacts and memorabilia in the world. https://www.nashvilledowntown.com/go/the-johnny-cash-museum

Though she left the world tragically at the age of 30 in 1963, Patsy Cline made an indelible mark on Country Music and remains one of the biggest names in Country history. The Patsy Cline Museum celebrates the life of the legendary songstress and features hundreds of never before seen artifacts, personal belongings, videos and much more. Located above the Johnny Cash Museum. https://www.patsymuseum.com/

21c Museum is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the very best work of living artists from all over the world. With over 9,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as a dedicated video lounge, the museum features dynamic group and solo exhibitions, as well as permanent, commissioned installations. https://www.gotolouisville.com/directory/21c-museum/

This one-of-a-kind museum brings the pages of the Bible to life casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. http://cincinnatiusa.com/things-to-do/attractions/creation-museum

COSI, Columbus’ dynamic Center of Science and Industry, has combined science learning and fun since 1964 with 300-plus hands-on exhibits, Ohio’s largest Planetarium, Giant Screen Theater, live shows and more. And now, through a unique and unprecedented partnership with the renowned American Museum of Natural History, COSI’s offerings are only growing! Located on Columbus’ Scioto Peninsula, COSI is near the downtown core and the Ohio Statehouse. A brand new 6.5-acre park sits directly west of the museum featuring a splash pad, playground, picnic tables, swings and much more. COSI introduced the new Dinosaur Gallery – a permanent exhibit that allows guests to get up close to a full-sized cast of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, 100 million-year-old fossilized amber, an 8 foot titanosaur femur cast and much more. https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/listing/cosi/5658/

The Wexner Center for the Arts is one of the nation’s premiere cultural gems--an internationally known contemporary arts center at The Ohio State University. The Center offers exhibitions, performances, films, artistic residencies and educational programs. The building, a landmark of postmodern architecture, houses galleries, performance spaces, a film video theater, a store and a cafe. From the intimate, cabaret-style concerts in our black box theater to large-scale events in or 2,500 seat Mershon Auditorium, the Wexner Center offers a wide variety of performances – dance, theater, jazz, world music, electronica and more. In the Wexner Center Film/Video Theater, you can watch rarely screened movies from near and far, the latest independent features and classics from Hollywood and abroad. https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/listing/wexner-center-for-the-arts-the/5555/

This fascinating, fun place for kids, families and lovers of history features the most important railroad collection in America, and features seasonal train rides and free parking. https://baltimore.org/listings/attractions/bo-railroad-museum

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is among the top natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of artifacts, objects, and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/directory/carnegie-museum-of-natural-history-history-landmarks/

Carnegie Museum of Art is arguably the first museum of contemporary art in the United States, collecting the "old master of tomorrow" since the inception of the Carnegie International in 1896. Today the Museum of Art is among the most popular and esteemed cultural institutions in the region, providing visitors with access to great works of art, studio art classes, and interpretive programs that inspire, provoke, and delight. Carnegie Museum of Art has collection of more than 32,000 objects features a broad spectrum of visual art, including painting and sculpture; prints and drawings; photographs; architectural casts, renderings, and models; decorative arts and design; and film, video, and digital imagery. The museum also houses the archive of over 70,000 negatives by photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris. https://cmoa.org/

Located two blocks from Camden Yards, this National Historic Site is Babe Ruth's birthplace and features rare artifacts, photos, videos and more. George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Baltimore's native son who became America's first sports celebrity and an international icon. https://baberuthmuseum.org/

The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower has been a Baltimore landmark since its construction in 1911. The Baltimore Office of Promotions & The Arts has transformed the Tower into a space for visual and literary artists. https://baltimore.org/listings/art-museums-galleries/bromo-tower-arts-entertainment-district

Visitors will enjoy the Frick Art Museum; the Car and Carriage Museum; Clayton, the restored 19th-Century Victorian home of Henry Clay Frick; the Cafe at the Frick; the Greenhouse; and the Visitors' Center which once served as the Frick children's playhouse. http://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/

National Great Blacks In Wax Museum is American first wax museum of African American history and culture features more than 150 life-size and lifelike wax figures. http://www.greatblacksinwax.org/index.html

The Storytellers Museum is in a historic building that started as a general store; later, Johnny Cash converted it into his “Little Stage,” where his “Saturday Night in Hickman County” guitar pulls took place. For an unforgettable experience, come see the one-of-a-kind memorabilia and never-before-shown video footage of Johnny Cash; every visit includes a 20-minute Live Concert! https://www.storytellersmuseum.com/the-museum/

The Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention, located at 811 South Main Street, is a museum of ideas. The question is not what you will see but what will you imagine and create. Dr. James Robert Cade, a kidney specialist at the University of Florida, was best known as the leader of the research team that invented Gatorade in 1965. In 2004, Dr. Cade and his family established The Cade Museum Foundation in an effort to design and build a 26,000 square foot museum in Gainesville, Florida. The mission of the museum is to transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. The Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention offers interactive activities in the Creativity and Fab Labs, hands-on learning in the rotunda, Studebaker Sundays, outdoor educational activities, travelling exhibits, and much, much, more. Cade programming and events are designed to engage guests in “purposeful creativity,” the kind that leads to great inventions, new businesses, and ideas that change the world https://www.visitgainesville.com/explore/attraction/cade-museum-for-creativity-invention/

Ask people about the one place to visit when coming to Gainesville, and many will say the Butterfly Rainforest. At the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Rainforest exhibit, you’ll come face-to-face with exotic free-flying butterflies within a large screened enclosure. Visitors can stroll through tropical foliage and flowers to the sound of waterfalls. More than 50 species from all over the world reside here at any given time. The Wall of Wings exhibit inside the museum showcases thousands of preserved and photographed butterfly and moth specimens. Visitors can get a close-up view of scientists working in the world’s largest butterfly research facility. The butterflies in the exhibit become active when temperatures are 60 degrees or higher. https://www.visitgainesville.com/explore/attraction/butterfly-rainforest/

Florida Museum visitors can enjoy hundreds of live butterflies from around the world in the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit, and explore the state’s unique habitats, as well as its natural and cultural history, in other permanent exhibits. Changing temporary exhibits cover a wide range of topics. Florida’s official natural history museum is located on the University of Florida campus. The Florida Museum of Natural History houses more than 40 million specimens and cultural artefacts, including one of the world’s largest collections of butterflies and moths. The Museum’s mission combines research, preservation and interpretation of both biological diversity and cultural heritage. The main attractions are the permanent exhibitions that explore Florida’s unique habitats and cultural history and the exciting temporary exhibits. https://www.visitgainesville.com/explore/attraction/florida-museum-of-natural-history/

At Dudley Farm, a one-of-a-kind authentic 325-acre working “Cracker” farm, you will see the evolution of North Florida farming through the eyes of three generations of the Dudley family; from the pioneer days circa 1850 through the introduction of gasoline-powered equipment circa 1945. Dudley Farm Historic State Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some highlights include a visitor center, park staff in period clothing performing chores, production and harvest of heritage crop varieties and sugar cane, raising of heritage livestock varieties including Cracker cows and Barred Rock chickens, family farmhouse with original furnishings, general store and post office, 1880s kitchen outbuilding, cane syrup complex with autumn cane grinding, boiling, bottling, seasonal corn shucking, nature trail and picnic area. https://www.visitgainesville.com/explore/attraction/dudley-farm-historic-state-park/

The redesigned Art Sparks at the Speed Art Museum is a new interactive gallery for all ages. 15 hands-on learning stations help adults and children connect with art and with each other. Art Sparks is open the same hours as the Museum and is free with regular admission and on Sundays. The space is divided into three sections that focus on Noticing, Making, and Talking about art. Noticing: Visitors are introduced to different ways of seeing the world around them. The exhibits and activities focus on light and color activities, pattern, and composition. Talking: Visitors are encouraged to share their perspectives about art from the collection. Exhibits help visitors develop the vocabulary to discuss art and also gain a visual familiarity with the collection. https://www.gotolouisville.com/directory/art-sparks-at-the-speed-art-museum/

Volunteers were the sole staff until 1924 when city support made it possible to hire a professional director. The Great Depression tightened finances and ended City funding, forcing the institute to again rely entirely on volunteers from 1931 to 1945. It functioned — much of that time in borrowed spaces — as an art center, offering classes and exhibiting mostly local artists. The collection was small, eclectic — containing archaeological artefacts and decorative as well as fine art — and composed entirely of gifts. In 1937 the institute moved into its first permanent home, a historic mansion. Just four years later, a disastrous fire destroyed the building and much of the collection, threatening the institute’s existence. Over the next quarter-century, the museum has continued to enrich the lives of those in Northeast Ohio and beyond through modern and contemporary art. Its nationally recognized collection was documented through the publication of collection catalogues. Three acquisitions endowments were created to ensure the collection’s future growth. A greatly enlarged general endowment provided increased, more stable funding, allowing the staff to undertake ambitious programs and exhibitions with national and even international impact. In 2007, its eighty-fifth year, the museum more than tripled in size with the opening of the new John S. and James L. Knight Building, which adjoins the 1899 building. Spanning three centuries, like the museum’s collection, together they symbolize the museum’s dual role as preserver of the past and herald of the future. https://akronartmuseum.org/history/

International sobriety support group Alcoholics Anonymous originated at the home of Dr. Bob Smith, who founded AA in the 1930s. The haven that once welcomed suffering alcoholics now welcomes visitors, who can see exhibits dedicated to Dr. Bob's life and studies. https://www.visitakron-summit.org/visitors/what-to-do/attractions-points-of-interest/listing/Dr.-Bobs-Home

Visit 26 restored historic buildings on 30 shaded acres where interpreters in period clothing bring the 1800s to life. Enjoy demonstrations of blacksmithing, basket weaving, book binding and more! Farm animals, carriage rides, and family activities from June-September. Special weekend events. Country Store, Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant. Education and distance learning programs from October-May. https://www.atlanticcitynj.com/explore/attractions/details.aspx?id=16331