RISD Museum

The RISD Museum, part of the Rhode Island School of Design, showcases pieces of art created by current and former students. There are other pieces of art on display as well, but it is the modern art created by today's artists that we found to be the most interesting. You can quickly walk through the museum in about 90 minutes, but you could also spend several hours here if you are a true art aficionado.

There is plenty of street parking in the area of the museum, but make sure to keep the meter filled to avoid parking tickets.

American Visionary Art Museum

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
Not everyone is into visiting art museums as they can sometimes be pretentious, stuffy, and honestly, boring if you aren't into the style of art on the walls.  The American Visionary Art Museum is VERY different from the standard art museum though.  Even when you arrive (and there is plenty of street parking available), you'll see art on the outside of the building and along the side of the building. When we visited, there were even artists working on masterpieces on the sidewalk!

The art inside the museum is what you'd call "very unusual."  It's really difficult to put into words.  From seeing a cruise liner made of hundreds of thousands of toothpicks to seeing the "fart" exhibit near the 1st floor bathrooms, this museum will entertain people of all ages and with all varying degrees of interest in art.

The museum has two buildings and a sculpture garden, the main building has three floors (including a very unique restaurant on the third floor) and a small exhibit on the ground floor around the bathrooms. The second building is much more interactive, with larger artist pieces as well as motion pieces that visitors and interact with. Between the two buildings in the sculpture garden. Be sure to walk along the sidewalk between the two buildings as well, as there is even more funky, fun art that is street facing.

Art of Video Games Exhibit

Tucked inside the Smithsonian American Art Museum, until Sept. 30, 2012, is the Art of Video Games Exhibit.  For anyone with an appreciation of Video Games, this is a must visit exhibit, so try to get yourself to Washington, DC before it leaves!

In the exhibit, you'll find many different video game "artifacts" from the young history of video games, dating back to the late 1970's.  My favorite (shown above) is the cloth map from Ultima IV... I still remember having this as a child!

You'll also have the opportunity to play some classic games such as Super Mario Bros. and The Secret of Monkey Island (shown above).  After this section, you can see videos of all the major game systems and some of the most historically impacting games of those systems.

While the rest of the museum does have plenty of great art to see, this exhibit is the one you don't want to miss!

Second Bank of the United States

The building of the Second Bank of the United States has a proper historical feel.  However, it has been converted from being a bank into an art museum.  The theme of the art is "People of Independence" and there are approximately 185 paintings in the building.  While it wasn't anything special to me, depending on your taste in art and history, it might just appeal to you.

With free admission, you can't go wrong with giving the museum a shot when in Old City.

The Guggenheim Collection

Peggy Guggenheim was an art aficionado who built museums around the world to display pieces of art from her own private collection, as well as others.  One of her top museums, and where she has her ashes resting, is in Venice in the Dorsoduro sestiere in an 18th century palazzo right on the Grand Canal.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection contains works of all types from the 20th century.  It has students from America brought in to help curate the museum as part of their education.  As long as you're an art lover, this is a museum that will interest you.  The size of its collection is modest, so it doesn't feel overwhelming on your trip.

Jepson Center

The Jepson Center is a very modern building in the middle of the historic district of Savannah.  Compared to the other buildings it looks a bit out of place, but since it does hold modern art inside of it, this does make sense.  It is affiliated with the Telfair Academy so that you can pay one price of $15 for admission to both, as well as admission to the Owens-Thomas House.

We both found this museum to be quite nice with the exhibits that are permanent inside.  The temporary exhibit there was on photography while we went and honestly, what we saw wasn't very impressive.  However, that floor is always changing, so hopefully when you visit you'll have something more appealing waiting for you there.

Palmer Museum of Art

Located in the heart of Penn State's main campus in State College, PA is the Palmer Museum of Art.  The entrance to the building is impressive, as it features two stone "Lion's Paws" on the entryway, symbolic of the college's Nittany Lion mascot.

Inside, you'll find a quaint museum, featuring works of various genres of art ranging from American contemporary to African and Asian sculptures.  The museum is about two floors and, unless you are a true art enthusiast that spends lots of time studying paintings, you will spend about an hour in here to explore all the various galleries.

If you're on campus at any point in time, it's definitely worth checking out for a little bit, especially as the admission price is free (although donations are always appreciated by the museum).