Top 10 Museums in Austin
If you are visiting Austin, you need to check out at least one of these Austin museums. Austin houses a wealth of information about Texas and Austin history, art, music, and the natural world. Stroll in the Umlauf Sculpture Garden – view a reclining nude in front of a backdrop of vibrant lilies – and then make your way to the Austin Nature and Science Center to explore the Dino pit and dig up your own artifacts! Top the day off with a trip to the Bob Bullock State History Museum or the Texas Memorial Museum and Natural Science Center for a thorough Austin museum experience!
- Austin Children’s Museum
- Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
- Texas Memorial Museum and Natural Science Center
- Austin Museum of Art (Laguna Gloria and Downtown)
- Texas Music Museum
- Mexic-Arte Museum
- Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum
- Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum
- Austin Nature and Science Center
- Blanton Museum of Art
When visiting Austin museums, don’t miss the Austin Children’s Museum! Designed to maximize interactivity and fun – this museum is sure to delight your little ones! Boasting many permanent exhibits, which teach your kids about engineering, construction, and math – the Austin Children’s Museum also has an outdoor exhibit especially for children under 2 called the Rising Star Ranch. To see these and more museum features visit: http://www.austinkids.org/.
Originally “The Story of Texas Museum” – this three-level museum does just that: tells a story. Organized by theme, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum guides visitors through the early days of pre-Texas history, through the pioneers and early settlers, to the dawning of Fortune 500 companies and Dell. This museum will especially highlight how historical events affected Texas, and how they in turn affected the world. Don’t miss this in-depth look at the Lone Star State in this premier history museum in Austin. To find out more visit the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum homepage at: http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/.
Don’t miss this “Best Museum in Austin for Children” as ranked by Nickelodeon’s 2009 Parents’ Picks Award. Every Halloween the museum sponsors “Fright at the Museum” a quasi-haunted house/trick-or-treat/tour in their very own dinosaur graveyard. The Texas Memorial Museum and Natural Science Center also shares a Dino pit with the Austin Nature and Science Center and displays authentic dinosaur tracks fossilized in stone. The museum has an extensive mineral and gem collection as well as a Hall of Geology and Paleontology that are sure to amaze. To check out these and more exhibits at the Texas Memorial Museum and Natural Science Center please visit: http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/.
The Austin Museum of Art has expanded to two Austin museum locations. At Laguna Gloria and Downtown, AMOA showcases 20th century and contemporary American art that pushes the envelope. Often the art pieces are accompanied by radio and live music performances in order to intensify the art-viewing experience and drive home the point that art is interdisciplinary. The Austin Museum of Art also displays Texan artists’ work. The annual event at Laguna Gloria – Fiesta – draws a huge crowd from all over the country. To visit the Austin Museum of Art web page please go to: http://www.amoa.org/site/PageServer.
There is no doubt that Texas has contributed scores to American music. The Texas Music Museum’s mission is to prove that fact! Drawing on loads of memorabilia, photos, oral histories, and rare LPs, it creates an authentic Austin museum experience. Also, the Texas Music Museum played a large part in commemorating inductees to the Austin Music Memorial at the Long Center. The Texas Music Museum collects information on many diverse traditions of Texas music including: Tejano, Conjunto, Country, German and Czech music, and Texas Pop. To learn more about the Texas Music Museum’s exhibits and hours please visit: http://www.texasmusicmuseum.org/.
Texas is very proud of its Mexican cultural influence. The Mexic-Arte Museum – the official Mexican and Mexican American Fine Art Museum of Texas – houses collections designed to educated the public – particularly the latino/a communities – about the socio-cultural impact of Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture. The Museum displays ritual masks from the state of Guerrero and silkscreen prints, etchings, lithographs, and linocuts from a populist art movement in Mexico. The Mexic-Arte Museum also explores Mayan and Aztec traditions and how they have found their way into modern Mexican and Mexican American art. To view the Mexic-Arte Museum’s website visit: http://www.mexic-artemuseum.org/.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum is an Austin museum that commemorates the life and work of Lyndon B. Johnson – our 36th president. The LBJ library and museum showcases over 45 million pages of correspondence and other documents from Johnson’s presidential and private life. Not-to-miss exhibit: the over four thousand political cartoons depicting LBJ’s stint in the White House. To find out more about the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum visit: http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/.
This Austin treasure is located near Zilker Park and consists of a variety of sculptures created by 20th century American sculptor Charles Umlauf and his contemporaries. Bronze and limestone nudes and rhinoceroses rear up out of beautifully maintained gardens to showcase this sculptor’s vision. The Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum also hosts Garden Parties and weddings – as this spot is too beautiful to pass up! To learn more about this unique, outdoor Austin museum visit: http://www.umlaufsculpture.org/.
This Austin museum is also located near Zilker Park at its western edge. The Center displays many Native Texas wildlife exhibits including a coyote, owls and hawks. The Austin Nature and Science Center also houses a Small Wonders Exhibit. The Dino pit will be sure to entertain! Dig up your own fossilized relics in this interactive exhibit! Look at microbes and bacteria under a microscope in the Naturalists’ Workshop! Visit the Austin Nature and Science Center’s website here: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/ansc/.
The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas Austin is known for its European paintings and Latin American art. This museum in Austin does not only house static images on walls though – the Blanton Museum of Art also sponsors showings of independent films and the program Yoga in the Galleries as part of its mission to combine art forms in a publicly accessible way. The Blanton Museum of Art hosts a monthly party entitled B-Scene where guests can don masks and view art while they listen to live music and sip Northern Italian wines. To view more see the Blanton Museum of Art website at: http://blantonmuseum.org/index.cfm?CFID=13830978&CFTOKEN=20364940