Museums we love
Connecting through art and culture is as important as ever, so for International Museum Day, we asked our colleagues to share their favorite institutions from around the world. If you’re dreaming of places to go and things to do, here is a collection of museums that have inspired us. While we wait for them to reopen, visit them virtually to learn, explore, share, and donate if you can.
Museum of the Moving Image
Long Island City, New York
movingimage.us
The museum has a fascinating selection of props and artifacts, as well as interactive elements where you can learn about film-making processes. Great fun for TV and movie lovers!
Florrie Sharp, Interface Engineer
The Getty Museum
Los Angeles, California
getty.edu/museum
One of the first museums I remember visiting as a youth shortly after it opened. An incredible location with beautiful architecture and landscaping, fascinating exhibitions, excellent community events, a full research library, and much, much more.
Jesse Bennett, Senior Producer
Chichu Art Museum
Naoshima Island, Japan
benesse-artsite.jp
This museum is really incredible. It’s located on Naoshima Island in Japan. The whole island is really interesting, with a lot of museums, outdoor artworks and cats! The architecture of the museum is by Tadao Ando, the building is mainly made of concrete and is constantly playing with the inside and outside. The feeling is really impressive. There are very few artworks but they are very well highlighted, especially those of James Turrel and Monet. I went there a few years ago and yet I still remember it very well today. A must see!
Antoine Doury, Senior Interface Engineer
Peabody Museum of Natural History
New Haven, Connecticut
peabody.yale.edu
I grew up with this museum and it’s full of dinosaur skeletons! Having gone back as an adult the dinosaurs seem a little smaller but I still get excited like a 6 yr old. The mural in the main room is very famous.
Peter Ducharme, Senior Application Engineer
MAXXI
Rome, Italy
maxxi.art
A subtle composition of curves and angles that create a powerful structure.
Maxime Perillou, Senior Designer
Musée de l’Orangerie
Paris, France
musee-orangerie.fr
For the extremely immersive experience that this modern museum brings to visitors who love Impressionism.
Yanhao Li, Application Engineer
Harvard Art Museums
Cambridge, Massachusetts
harvardartmuseums.org
There was an exhibition in 2014 that used light to restore color to Rothko’s Harvard Murals which had deteriorated over time, that remains a highlight of my museum-going experiences.
Kemp Attwood, CCO
Dia:Beacon
Beacon, New York
diaart.org
Part of why I love visiting Dia:Beacon isn’t just the museum itself, but the journey one takes to get there. The train journey into Hudson Valley feels like time slows down, and by the time you reach the grounds, your mind is ready for immersion — and Dia does not disappoint.
Steve Reynolds Ramos, Producer
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
artic.edu
The Art Institute is such a great experience. The modern wing paired with the original building creates this contrast that is a joy to explore. Also the food is great.
Marius Roosendaal, Design Director
Rothko Chapel
Houston, Texas
rothkochapel.org
Hard to choose a favorite but this is such an intense space! It’s a singular octagonal room in a nice park that explores death, spirituality and transcendence, the beginning & end of art through Rothko’s giant paintings. It’s considered his final masterpiece. Plus they often have cool meditative concerts and lectures.
Jesse Renier, Senior Producer
The Met Museum
New York, New York
metmuseum.org
Love sitting to admire the paintings and pay attention to the details.
Pablo Barrios, Senior Application Engineer
The MoMA
New York, New York
moma.org
The MoMA needs no introduction, but I specifically loved the Sur Moderno exhibition.
Tucker Lorentzen, Strategist
Dali Museum
St Petersburg, Florida
thedali.org
The structure there is amazing. I think it was an old hanger or something that stored ships and then they had an architect make the brutalist updates. The windows are double panes with water on the inside so they can withstand hurricane winds and change in air pressure. One wing is dedicated to the Dali collection, which the original owners stipulated must be on display (i.e. not just some of the pieces like other major galleries do with their collections) and the other wing is open for other Dali contemporaries such as MC Escher and Frida Kahlo. It not only includes Dali works from the beginning to end of his career but also personal photos and items. It’s honestly surprisingly full of love.
Nickie Kuhn, Senior Producer
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Venice, Italy
guggenheim-venice.it
I love seeing such a profound collection of art displayed in her private home, expressing her personal perspective and depth of character. Not to mention the beautiful home itself, on a calm Venice canal.
Hannah Kreiswirth, COO
Museo del Oro Zenu
Cartagena, Colombia
banrepcultural.org/cartagena/museo-del-oro-zenu
Discovering the genius of a pre-Hispanic people in their adaptation to the environment and the finesse of their techniques in an unexpected detour was simply fascinating.
Jean-Baptiste Peny, Product Director
The Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam, Holland
stedelijk.nl
1- The Architecture of the museum is unique, sort of giant white bathtub mixed with a 19th-century Neo-Renaissance brick pile. 2- You usually get there by bike. 3- The designer of the identity are one of my favorite designers Mevis & Van Deursen.
Benoit Lemoine, Senior Designer
MALBA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
malba.org.ar
The museum’s tall, glass windows on all sides allow streaming light in from all directions, which makes sitting at the cafe downstairs for a cup of coffee and browsing the permanent and rotating collections a scenic and happy respite from the heat of Buenos Aires. Located in the heart of the city, the trees and benches which surround the museum in the nearby parks are perfect spots to contemplate art and life. The art is both traditional and progressive, taking the best of Latin American culture and making it accessible and tangible for all, especially those who have a deep appreciation for Latin American culture. The bookshop and overall aesthetic is amazing!
Virginia Albert, Program Coordinator
Mmuseumm
New York, New York
mmuseumm.com
I love the Mmuseumm because it’s sort of a modern natural history museum that helps us look a little closer at the present moment through the lens of everyday objects, passing ephemera, and tiny curiosities that reveal so much about what it means to be a human today
Laura Sanchez, Strategy Director
Barnes Foundation
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
barnesfoundation.org
Every time I visit the Barnes collection I see something new, even though the art itself doesn’t change. The way Dr. Barnes put artworks together provides for endless exploration of the visual and narrative connections.
Jesse Golomb, Strategist
L’Atelier des Lumières
Paris, France
atelier-lumieres.com
L’Atelier des Lumières is fairly recent, and what I love most about it is how they made art accessible to everyone, by making it into a sound & image exhibition, where you’re fully immersed in the paintings. Their first exhibition displayed the works of Klimt all over the huge walls of this old manufacturing building, with a playlist mixing classical music and electro sounds, and animating the paintings to make them come to life. A true gem!
Bastienne Jacques, Studio Manager
Mass MoCA
North Adams, Massachusetts
massmoca.org
It’s a huge reclaimed series of buildings ~ 200k square feet — a massive collection of Sol LeWitt work. In their charter they said they would never have a permeant collection.
Kyle Goines, Senior Interface Developer
Museum of the American Revolution
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
amrevmuseum.org
I appreciate MoAR’s commitment to surfacing untold stories and telling a more inclusive history. The most powerful way the Museum does this is life-size tableaus, which transported me into the past in a way I had never experienced.
Tim Sullivan, Senior Designer
Tate Modern
London, United Kingdom
tate.org.uk
I love the brutal ex-power station architecture and the imposing size of the Turbine gallery. It is well worth a visit just for the viewing platform in the new tower or to get lost in the Tank room under the museum. It is the one museum where, over the years, I’ve consistently been wow’d by a something; the entire Olafur Elaisson exhibition which ran the second half of 2019 left me speechless.
Mike Byrne, Interface Director
Fondation Carmignac
Hyères, France
fondationcarmignac.com
The unique location on the beautiful Proquerolles Island in the south of France. The only museum where you have to take off your shoes and wander barefoot. The light that reaches the showrooms is filtered by the pool and its ripples. A great moment to enjoy art with family and kids.
Alexandre Bommelear, Managing Director, Paris
