Huntsville Museum of Art — Attraction in Huntsville

Honestly, this is the worst art museum of any I have seen. I love going to art museums, and I have been to many mid-sized or larger art museums in metro areas in the United States. I am not familiar, however, with other local art museums in the South. I have also been to top art museums in Europe - as well as to smaller, local museums in Europe. My comparison is not based on the best of the best, but on other art museums for metro areas in the US. However you look at it though, unfortunately this is the worst. One of my greatest joys is spending all day in an art museum. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be possible here.

I only visited once in 2021. I was very excited, but greatly disappointed. I saw very few original works of arts - it was primarily prints. I did not see any original works by major artists from any period - prints, yes. It seemed to be, overall, a poor utilization of space, as there were very large rooms with high ceilings and you had many rather small prints. It just looked odd. I am used to seeing larger art works - and a greater variety of sizes. I did not see a single original work of art that took my breath away - and it doesn't take that much to do so.

I understand the real issue here is lack of money. The museum clearly lacks the funds to own substantive pieces of art. Art, after all, can be extraordinarily expensive. But maybe instead you could have more original works of art from lesser known artists, or maybe focus on local artists from the region - where you can obtain more works within your price range. Going into a large room with many prints of small to medium sized prints is not very awe-inspiring. Some prints are fine, if necessary due to costs, but let's have more original works of art please.

Ultimately, the city, state, and community are to blame for the state of the art museum, as money is clearly not flowing in. I am not sure charging $12 each is the answer, but I am guessing this money is not to buy works of art, but to keep the lights on and make sure staff is paid. I don't think the museum is worth $12, perhaps $2, but I also happily would pay twice that for an excellent visiting exhibition that I could spend just an hour in. I also note that some world-class museums are free. At $12, Huntsville Museum of Art cannot serve the role of being a third place (neither home nor work), which is a very important need for democracy. I really feel for our city's youth when there is this kind of economic barrier that does not allow them regular access. This city lacks non-commercial third places to provide culture to our citizens and youth, even if the museum is severely lacking. It is, as they say, better than nothing.

I would strongly encourage exhibitions with original works of art that you can get on loan. I found the experience so disappointing, I am not sure I would want to visit again, though I may try.

I guess you could consider this museum something that is better than nothing - a place maybe for young people in school who have never seen art, or people who cannot travel. Though, to be honest, this museum is so lacking that it may leave a bad impression on a visitor and make them think art is boring or not exciting, when a good art museum can be one of the most exciting places...

There once was a girl that I began talking to thru a mutual friend. We messaged each other from time to time as we got to know one another, we realized that we shared many common interests. It got to be that we spoke rather frequently, helping each other with the daily problems that life puts us thru.

Things were like this on and off for about 3 years. We became closer and sometimes life would get in the way and we wouldn't talk for weeks or months. I was going thru a divorce at the time and recently diagnosed Bipolar, also had went thru treatment for substance abuse and living sober and right for the first time in awhile. She was also going thru a lot, needless to say, our evening talks were needed and over some time I was quite smitten by this girl.

We eventually got to meet one another, a year or two in we met up at a park and spent the afternoon hanging out. It was then I confirmed what I had expected: I was head over heels for her. Things continued this way for awhile. We would message every night and then we'd lose touch for a bit, then out of nowhere I'd get a message or I'd message her and we'd be back talking again each night and eventually we would meet up for another date.

We did parks a couple times, went out to eat Japanese, rented a hotel and watched Chainsaw Man all night, etc..

But the best one by far had to be the night we went to the Huntsville Art Museum. I remember it well, I was in the shower getting ready for another boring night at home watching How I Met Your Mother and my phone dings. It's her, and I haven't heard from her in awhile, I think she ghosted me on my birthday so I had been kind of pissy about it. But I was happy when she popped up and text me wanting to go to the art museum.

It was a week before Christmas and cold outside, a winter storm was moving in and it was lightly sleeting. It was already 7pm or so, and I still had to get ready, go pick her up, and make it to Huntsville before they closed at 9 or 10. It was impossible I knew, but I took off. I had to borrow money from my dad because I was low, but I explained the situation to him and how important this was, and he relented. The roads were steadily getting worse as the ice collected.

I scooped her, and we got to the museum with about 18 minutes left till close. She looked so beautiful, and I felt pretty in my Michael Kors jacket and Ugg Boots. We looked around at the exhibits and talked and laughed and were in awe. The MTG exhibit was there, I loved seeing some of the card art. The museum was wonderful, and the workers were so nice to us. They hardly hurried us to leave when it was closing time so we got to hangout a few extra minutes. It was a memory that will always stand out in my mind and was a beautiful date. That night, I was kind of sure I was in love, or at least that I was sure that soon I could see myself being in love with her. About 6 months after, we eventually become boyfriend and girlfriend and I was the happiest guy in the world for a bit.

I'll stop there, because the story in totality does not end well or happy at all. But I will always hold this memory close to my heart and thank the Art Museum for being...

Overall, a decent museum with a small, limited selection. Adequate for something you'd find in a city this size. I tend to gravitate more towards neoclassical, baroque, and early impressionistic works. The museum had a limited quantity of impressionistic works and nothing of the former styles. There was a large section of the museum devoted to a Frida Kahlo exhibit but no actual works from the artist herself. Only artwork inspired from her. There was an interesting exhibit of artwork through time but again no original works, only prints and replicas.

The only issues I had was with the museum operations itself. Huntsville had received a light dusting of snow throughout the night and so the museum did not open until Noon. I arrived at 10:00 a.m. as stated on the website only do discover that the doors were still locked. Figuring that this would probably be the case I came back around 11:30 and was greeted by a female staff employee who told me that due to the inclement weather the hours had changed that day. For my perspective it seemed to perplex her that I wasn't aware that they would be delayed due to "severe weather."

I was a first and only person inside the museum. I began to notice that the floor staff continued to keep it watchful eye on me wherever I went as if they thought I was trying to shoplift a painting from the likes of the Thomas Crown Affair. Several times I would walk around the corner and would catch floor security peeking around the corner and then playing it off when I noticed them. I even noticed one of the employees signaling to the other employees my location when I was reading an annotation about one of the artworks.

If you are an art enthusiast it is worth seeing if you are in the immediate area. I'm sure like every other art museum they rotate collections but if I lived in the immediate vicinity I'm not sure it would warrant purchasing a...