Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum — Attraction in Richardson

My first visit to the new Crow Museum of Asian Art was disappointing. My frustrating afternoon began with the parking app. I had to fill out all the fields twice and then had to guess how long I would be in the museum. Why not charge at the exit, like other apps do? While the building looks monumental, there are only a few exhibition rooms. These rooms are small and the heavy booths contribute to a cramped feeling, especially those that loom over some of the artworks. In some rooms, the works feel undervalued. The colors of the rooms also do not help the permanent exhibition. The temporary exhibitions were equally frustrating, mixing apples and oranges, artwork and photos of donors, for example. A visit to the museum store rounded out the frustrating tour. I was reminded of the beautiful Crow Museum store in the Dallas Art District, full of items that piqued visitors’ interest. The new store has a few T-shirts and a few other items. There is not even a cozy café. Overall, the beautiful pieces in the permanent exhibition...

Beautiful museum and free to visit but beware you must pay for parking. We visited on a Friday and there's just a small sign at the end of the parking stall and you have to stand there and fill out the form on the website and pay for the parking. There was a squad of 7 parking patrol college kids swarming us and checking all the cars. I told them we were in the process of filling out the form and the guy still scanned my car and I had to tell him again that we were working on it! Super annoying to have to pay for parking for a free musuem. Can they just charge you an entry fee to cover it so you don't have to stand in the parking lot and guard your car while you fill out the stupid form on your phone? Otherwise, the museum was nice but really only about an hour's worth of art to see. The jade room was...

I had my 3 year old with me which I don't recommend but otherwise really enjoyed the collection. I was there to see the asian art collection but I was pleasantly surprised to see a wing full of various nationalities and some local artists. The Asian art collection was really well curated and beautifully displayed. It was a comfortable stroll through well lit galleries and I loved getting the chance to get up really close to some of these...