UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS
1. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
20 Elm St • 413 585 2760
• Open 10am–4pm Tue–Sat, noon–4pm Sun • Adm •
www.smith.edu/artmuseum
Since its founding in the 1870s, Smith has collected contemporary art. Rufino Tamayo’s Nature and the Artist: The Work of Art and the Observer , commissioned by the college in 1943, offers a rare chance to see a work by one of Mexico’s leading muralists.
2. Yale University Art Museums, New Haven, CT
Yale Center for British Art • 1080 Chapel St • 203 432 2800
• open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat, noon–5pm Sun •
britishart.yale.edu
Yale University Art Gallery • 1111 Chapel St • 203 432 0600
• open 10am–5pm Tue–Fri, 11am–5pm Sat–Sun •
artgallery.yale.edu
The largest collection of British art outside the UK is kept at the Yale Center for British Art, designed by modernist architect Louis B. Kahn (1901–74). The Yale University Art Gallery, an earlier Kahn building of 1953, is noted for its American paintings and decorative arts.
Yale Center for British Art
3. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
32 Quincy St • 617 495 9400
• Open 10am–5pm daily • Adm •
www.harvardartmuseums.org
One of the world’s most wide-ranging university art museums, this boasts outstanding collections of ancient Greek, medieval, Renaissance, Impressionist, Expressionist, and Asian art.
Exhibit, Harvard Art Museums
4. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
5600 Mayflower Hill Dr • 207 859 5600
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat, noon–5pm Sun •
www.colby.edu/museum
An excellent survey of major American artists is capped with key holdings of modern and contemporary artists associated with Maine, including Marsden Hartley (1877–1943) and Alex Katz (b. 1927).
5. Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Brunswick, ME
Hubbard Hall, Bowdoin College • 207 725 3416
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat, 2–5pm Sun •
www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum
Named for Bowdoin College alumni Robert E. Peary (1856–1920) and Donald B. MacMillan (1874–1970), this museum brings their daring Arctic explorations to life. Natural history specimens, Inuit artifacts, and photographs offer insight on the cultures of the far north.
6. RISD Museum, Providence, RI
224 Benefit St • 401 454 6500
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun, 10am–9pm third Thu of the month • Adm •
www.risdmuseum.org
Students at New England’s top art and design school seek inspiration here. The historically encyclopedic collection of more than 84,000 objects is notable for late-19th-century painting (including French Impressionism), as well as post-1960 arts in various media. Contemporary studio crafts and furniture are also strong. Early American furniture stars in the decorative arts wing.
Manet’s Le Repos, RISD Museum
7. Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College • 603 646 2808
• Closed until 2019 for renovation and expansion •
hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu
With over 65,000 works, Assyrian stone reliefs from the palace of Ashurnasirpal (around 900 BC) are the Hood’s prize display. Strong selections of Native American, sub-Saharan, and Melanesian art bring a global sweep to the galleries.
8. Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, Storrs, CT
1 Royce Circle, Suite 101B, University of Connecticut • 860 486 8580
• Open 11am–7pm Tue–Sun • Donation •
www.bimp.uconn.edu
The key exhibits at this unique puppetry museum, one of America’s largest, are the puppets of Frank Ballard (1929–2010), a drama professor who set up America’s first degree course in puppetry.
9. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA
26 Oxford St • 617 495 3045
• Open 9am–5pm daily • Adm •
www.hmnh.harvard.edu
As the public face of three Harvard research institutions, this museum combines the charm of old-fashioned artifacts with cutting-edge science. The Glass Flowers are famous worldwide for their utterly realistic re-creation of plants and blossoms. Dinosaur skeletons, gemstones, and meteorites invariably elicit awe.
10. Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI
315 Harborside Blvd • 401 598 2805
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat • Adm •
www.culinary.org
This small museum of the culinary arts and hospitality industry will delight, with its historic roadside diners, fascinating kitchen gadgets, and even a rundown on state and presidential dinners. See how the hierarchy of the professional kitchen developed, and learn about great chefs through the ages.
