North America Museums International
Offers
Reviews
 |
Museums & Art Galleries in Detroit
by i_heart_elo The name of Detroit isn't synonomous with "Museums & Art Galleries". Instead, many only think of it as "Motown" or, "Motorcity". They all must envision everyone in Detroit singing Stevie Wonder songs while making cars. This however is not the case. You'd be pleasantly surprised to find out that Detroit ... boasts some pretty topnotch Museums. Two of which, I like better than any other city in the U.S. (save N.Y.C. who still rivals London and Paris for best Museums/Art Galleries). In order for you to get an idea of how cultured (or almost cultured) the City of Detroit can be, i've managed a list of the best Museums/Exhibits/Art Galleries I could think of. Most of these i've visited first hand or have at least heard about them quite a bit. And don't worry, you won't get shot if you go to visit them. I'd just recommend you go with friends after dark =) 5.) The New Detroit Science Center: Where would any midwestern American town be without a Science Center? It strikes me as a little ironic that American's are the worst performers in most of the Sciences at school, yet we have these *cool* gadget type museums that we go to all the time as kids. You'd think we'd all want to grow up and be Chemists or Astronomers. Instead, everyone just wants to be an Engineer (can we say boring), or in "business" (even more boring). After seeing these types of centers/museums as a child, they all start to blend together a little. Every single one had that static ball on a stand, where you rubbed your feet against the carpet and then touched this fortune-tellers type ball, and whamo....your hair stood up on end. You'd go through one EW and AH exhibit after another always asking your dad, "Hey Dad, how'd they do that? ", whilst your dad answers " Umm why don't you look that up when you get home". I hated that answer with a passion. Why couldn't my dad just tell me!? He was an engineer, that's probably why. I'm not really making this place sound that fantastic am I? Sorry 'bout that. Actually, it really is a fun place for kids, and even adults as a bit of nostalgia. There's new things you can learn about and loads of stuff you wish you studied more when you were in school/college. I have to say the coolest things (in my mind) about this Science center is the Planetarium and the IMAX theatre. The Planetarium is first rate and has "light shows" on the weekends for I think only $5.00 per person over 13 yrs old. The time I went they played Pink Floyd to the light show which my boyfriend and I were giggly and surprized about. The IMAX theatre of course it pretty much like any IMAX but it does show more movies and 3D shows than others i've been too. We saw the Dark Knight there (the newest Batman Movie) in 3D and wow, that was a little freaky for me. I'm a wimp when it comes to anything remotely scary. Although, everyone in the theatre said it was the best movie they'd ever seen . My friends said they wished they could go to more IMAX theatre movies if they're weren't a little pricey at $15.00 a ticket. =( Overall Experience: ***.5 Yup , 3.5 stars. That's mainly for the Planentarium and Nostalgia. If I were a kid I might have given it a 4.5, but since i'm a grown up, I take these places in a more of an adult light. This is a must see place though if you ever are passing through Detroit with children. (Although, honestly, who passes through Detroit???=) 4.) Hitsville USA / Motown Historical Museum Ok soooo I lied. Motown is a huge part of Detroit. Who doesn't love Marvin Gaye? Stevie Wonder? Smokey Robinson? Aretha Franklin? Otis Redding? Al Green? 3 of my top 10 favourite singers are in that group of people I just mentioned, and there all what made motown music....motown music. It's sad that something so great that came out of a city so huge, could fall so quickly. The racial riots in the 1960's really hurt the cities climate and people started thinking it was a "rough" town. Because of this, businesses started leaving, tourism stopped and everyone was left to pick up the pieces. Yet, this music has survived and will survive for decades to come. There are two exhibits/museums here but they're actually in the same building. Hitsville USA is just the "house" of Berry Gordy who was the man who started it all and was just a lowly factory worker. He decided to take a chance on his own dream as a music producer and recorded albums that made history. Bands like the Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes, and the Jackson Five. The Motown Historical Museum portion of the house shows several iconic pieces that are "motown". Marvin Gaye's piano is there, as are many other music stars of that times, instruments. They also have recreated several of the recording studios exactly as they were in the 1960's. Overall Experience: **** Four stars are for the Ambiance, History, Artifacts, and the "Idea". I like that they took the original recording studio and house and turned it into this museum, BUT......It really could be a LOT better. The house needs work on the outside especially. They have it fixed up "ok" on the inside, but that could be improved as well. It has a long way to go to be a "five star" type of exhibit. I think anyone that has a real love of the music that is "Motown", would kill to see this place! It's open from 10am to 6pm and is $10.00 per person. 3.) Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit: One of the main reasons this is at number three is because it's FREE, and a "work in progress". It's a place that has great potential and a TERRIFIC Cafe/ Bookstore. It's a huge loft type area that was an old auto dealership. It's more of a culteral center than a real contemporary art museum, but it's worth a look-see. I would go several times to meet friends at the cafe for our little book-club we had. If your with a group of friends, this is a great place to stop off before you go to.... 2.) Detroit Institute of Art (DIA): The DIA, believe it or not, is considered by some to have the more "prestigous" and extensive art collections in the country. Yup, even being out the MET of NYC, in several exhibitions and artifacts. The building itself is a gorgeous Art Deco Building from the 1920's and is kept up so maticulously inside, that your almost afraid to wear dirty shoes. A few years ago, they has a huge Degas exhibit that my friends and I went to. It was simply breathtaking. I got to see the same exhibit at the D'orsey in Paris, but I was shocked that I was more impressed with the presentation at the DIA than I was from the D'orsey! In addition to great exhibits every month, the art contributions are off the charts. There are a few Whistlers, Van Gogh's, Picasso's, and all the other big names you can think of. I really want to gush more about this place, but I'm sort of an Art Gallery junkie so I don't want to wax too poetic here. It's open from 10 am to 4pm During the week and on the weekends, but Friday it's open from 10am to 10pm. Admission is $8.00 for Adults and $4.00 for 12 and under. Overall Experience: ****.5 I really want to give this 5 stars. On the surface, it deserves it. The Building itself is a piece of art. Then, the pieces of art inside are also phenomenal. There are also great jazz, classical, and other musicians that play in the cafe area inside on different days. It really is sort of the "highlight" of the city. The reason it lacks that extra half a star is that they haven't built up the area around it, haven't expanded as expected (there are whole levels completely empty). Just remember that if you are in Detroit THIS is a MUST see. 1.) The Henry Ford Museum People come from all over the United States to go to this Museum, and it is a sight to behold. I've been there myself at least 5 or 6 times and I still see something new everytime I go. The amount of historical items in this MASSIVE museum is too numerous to go over. You have specialty planes, trains and automobiles. The chair that Abraham Lincoln was shot in. The model of the first car Henry Ford ever made. I can't even remember how many times I went "Wow, they have this here??". Half of the items there really probably do belong in the Smithsonian. The Henry Ford museum is similar to the Smithsonian in that it's great for all age groups. Even bored, never happy, restless teenagers would like it. There's a reason they call it "America's Greatest History Attraction". The prices vary depending on finding coupons online or special discount days etc... It's open 9:30am to 5:30pm, 7 days a week. It's $15.00 for adults and $11.00 for 12 and under. Believe me though, it's well worth it! Overall Experience: ****5 Here is yet another one I REALLY wanted to give the best rating possible. AGAIN though, there are a few things that hold this museum back. For the mass amount of space available, they haven't taken advantage of it very well. The museum shop is pretty small, and the cafe is 2nd rate. The museum itself DOES deserve 5 stars, it's everything else around it that deserves only about 3, so it evens out. Honorable Mentions: National Museum of The Tuskegee Airmen: The famous African-American airmen that fought in World War II are finally given some recognition. You'll see various aircrafts, uniforms, and plenty of other items related to these brave men that are often disregarded. Automotive Hall of Fame: I think the name of this place, says it all. I mean, it is the motor city. You have to have an Automotive Museum type place. I'm a little disapointed though in this one. There are some good cars here, but it's not as well done as you'd expect it should be. Detroit Historical Museum: Have never been to this one so don't know much about it but that it really is all about the Detroit from the day of it's inception to modern times. Detroit Childrens Museum: Again, another one I don't really know about but have heard from various people that it's an "ok" children's type museum. *****In Conclusion***** Detroit's various museums really are the "bright" spot of the city. I know 99.9% of you reading this probably never been to Detroit, and never will be. But, for that 0.01% of you that will go to the "D", as it's affectionately called, make sure you check out at least one of two of these. =) Read the complete review |
 |
Cartoon Art Museum (San Francisco, USA)
by sakura8 The Cartoon Art Museum is located in downtown San Francisco at 655 Mission Street. We went there because there was a special exhibition that we wanted to see. It was the Totoro Forest Project Charity Auction exhibition, which was an amazing display of artwork by an international array of animators, artists and illustrators ... that were inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's animated film My Neighbor Totoro. The artwork had been previously auctioned off at a fund raising event at Pixar, which is just across the Oakland Bay Bridge. The museum is quite small, it only took us around an hour to walk around, but for $6 each it is good value for money. At the front desk my other half had to hand in his rucksack, but I was allowed to keep my small bag - I guess they were afraid someone would try to steal a picture! For us, the Totoro exhibition was the most interesting part of the museum because the work was recent (I do realise we were in a museum and that the art would be predominantly old!) and on a subject matter that we were familiar with, as we have seen the film a few times. What made it even better was we saw a picture by someone we knew! His name is Pascal Campion and how we know him is a very long story and I won't bore you with it! Anyway, I didn't actually know that Pascal had some art on display at this exhibition, so it was a real surprise. I'd seen some of his work and he has a very unique and recognisable style, so when I saw his picture at the museum I said to my fiancé "Wow that looks just like Pascal's work" and then I noticed his name tag next to the picture and was mightily impressed! My fiancé took a photograph of it before he noticed the sign forbidding photography - oops! There are different exhibitions on all the time and when we went, there was one called Richie Rich to Wendy the Witch: The Art of Harvey Comics, who published Casper and the animated version was being shown on a TV screen in another room. There was also a detailed history on animation so there were original cels from Disney and Hanna-Barbera (they did Yogi Bear). We also saw Gertie The Dinosaur by Winsor McCay, which is believed to be the first ever animated film, but apparently it's not. However, it's the one that made the public stand up and take notice of the fact that animation was a brand-new art form, with vast potential. Unless you're a real cartoon/comic book aficionado then you might not find the museum that interesting - the only other work I was familiar with was Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts! I wouldn't say this was a place for kids to go to as the cartoon artwork on display is aimed at the older generation, so they would get bored really quickly. On certain days they do have workshops and cartooning classes for kids but you have to pay for them. When it comes to museums my fiancé and I usually have the attention span of gnats! We start off very enthusiastically, but then our attention starts to wane very quickly. So if the Totoro exhibition hadn't been there, then it probably wouldn't have been worth going, so luckily we were in San Francisco just as it had started (we were there Aug to Nov 2008 and unfortunately the exhibition has recently finished). So if there's something in particular you want to see then it's well worth the money! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.cartoonart.org Hours: Daily 11:00 - 5:00, Closed Monday Also closed on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Easter, July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission Prices: $6.00 - Adults $4.00 - Students & Seniors $2.00 - Children (ages 6 - 12) FREE - Children (age 5 & below) The first Tuesday of every calendar month is "Pay What You Wish Day." There is also a small museum store where you can buy arty books, gifts and postcards. Read the complete review |
 |
The Exploratorium (San Francisco, USA)
by sakura8 We first heard about the Exploratorium as we were flicking through our San Francisco Guidebook and my fiancé recognised The Palace of Fine Arts from the movie Kuffs (he has a real knack for remembering things from films!). The Exploratorium is one of the world's first hands-on science museums and it is located behind the ... Palace of Fine Arts, which is a beautiful building that was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. The classic Roman rotunda design of the Palace is a stark contrast to the Exploratorium, which is a very plain-looking exhibition hall. Whilst the Palace is simply there to look at and be admired, the Exploratorium is all about interactive fun! They are located in the Marina district, which is very upmarket, and a lake surrounds the Palace with fountains and lots of lovely grass and trees and it's a really lovely place to just chill out. Entrance to the Exploratorium was included in our CityPass (see my review of the California Academy of Sciences for more details) so we skipped the queues and went straight in. The place was swarming with kids as they appeared to be on a school trip, but that just added to the buzzing atmosphere and it was great to watch them having such a good time. Spread over two floors, there are literally hundreds of different exhibits for you to explore and try out and they are grouped into different subject areas such as light, electricity, weather, vision, colour, sound and motion. Some of our favourites were: * The magnetic black sand, which you can mould into different shapes and build a bridge across two huge magnets. * The tornado, which uses a large mist generator, fans and a carefully shaped structure to produce a large tornado. It was really cool as you can run around it to make it go faster! * The giant chair that was 6 foot 6 inches high, which I sat on and my fiancé took a photo of me whilst laughing my head off as it was hilarious. I look like a little kid anyway and this chair just made me look tiny! We spotted this lady taking a photo of me too because she thought it was so funny! There was some nasty stuff on display too, like a magnified view of live termites munching their way through a tasty bit of wood and a tank full of dead animals, such as a mouse, a bird and a tortoise, covered in maggots and flies, to show the different stages of decomposition - nice! There is also a section dedicated to art and on display were the really impressive works of Harold Edgerton who pioneered high-speed colour photographs and multi-flash and microsecond imagery, his most famous being the "Milkdrop Coronet" (Google it and you'll know what I mean!). All that messing around makes you work up an appetite so we had lunch in the café, but the food was really terrible, so I'd highly recommend taking your own picnic and eating it by the lake. I also recommend making time to visit Crissy Fields as you get great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. You just need to exit the Exploratorium and head to your left and after a short walk you will come to a stretch of golden sand and a green area where a lot of people go running. From here we got some great shots of the bridge as the sun was setting and I think it was one of the best parts of our trip and I urge you to go there. We had to take 2 buses to get to the Exploratorium from where we were staying (very close to City Hall), but it really was worth it because you get to see the Palace, have loads of fun in the Exploratorium and then chill out and relax as you watch the sun set behind the famous bridge. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Open: Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Admission Prices: $14.00 for Adults (18-64) $11.00 for Students, Seniors, Youths and People with Disabilities $9.00 for Children (ages 4-12) FREE for Children (3 and under) Check out www.exploratorium.edu for more information. Read the complete review |
North America Museum International |
||
|---|---|---|
|
1 review Museum International / Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive. |
|
|
1 review 3601 Lyon Street / Museum International / San Francisco / CA 94123. |
|
|
Museum International / |
|
|
Museum International / |
|
|
5900 Wilshire Boulevard / Museum International / Los Angeles / California 90036. |
|
|
4505 Maryland Parkway / Museum International / Las Vegas Nevada 89154. |
|
|
Blue Mountain Lake / Museum International / NY 12812-0099. |
|
|
Museum International / 666 N. Michigan Ave. |
|
|
Museum International / 618 S. Michigan Ave. |
|
|
234 Museum Drive / Museum International / Los Angeles / CA 90065, |
|
| North America Museum International Recommendations 1 ... 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ... back next | ||
| dooyoo Results 71 - 80 of 180 | ||
