Dennos Museum Center — Attraction in Traverse City

Located on the Northern Michigan University Campus this museum blends in with the rest of the Campus. The museum is very airy and full of natural light. At first I thought the flow was bad because I started by turning right with a hallway with some ok art pieces that just dead ended. However afterthat one gallery flowed seamlessly into another.

They have a full-time Inuit exhibit. There was a ton of high quality pieces. While I didn't love every piece, I could tell the quality. I liked the sculptured Inuit art more than paintings, however the person I was with really enjoyed the paintings. Shrug to each their own. They have a large collection of both sculptures and paintings.

The museum then flows into a combination classical, modern, and art deco. Their are a couple of pieces that change as you walk past them. There's a painting of Ernest Hemming. I heard one of the pieces is an Andy Warhol, though I'm not sure which one. There are pieces I don't get, but all seemed well exhibited.

They have a small section for children and sadly even though the rest of the museum was amazing. This section was the coolest. The was a harp you could play but it used sensors instead of strings to play. There was a rockwall that created musical tones when you pressed a stone. A super complex metal string machine to make more music. There was a dinosaur and alligator made out of steel. There is a shadow machine that turns your shadow into colors. Plus a video display of sone stunning Japanese visual landscape art.

Out in in the main atrium there are clouds made out of metal wire and on the walls other shapes made out of metal wire.

It needs to be stated this is a art museum not a history museum. I don't think anything is older than 70 years old and most probably only 30 to 40. This doesn't take away, just a heads up.

The service was friendly to the max. Plus they were changing out one of their galleries so they they lowered their entrance fee from $6 to $5. This was fine with me because 85 to 90% was still open.

Overall this is a 5 star review and I will be back. This turned out to be one of my favorite medium to small city museums I have ever been to. An outstanding value and a great way to...

I made my first visit here in December 2018, and was simply astonished. I haven't seen such a unique and beautifully curated small museum in my living memory - and I've seen a lot. The Inuit collection is widely renowned, and I was amazed. It is housed in a gorgeous and welcoming recent addition and expansion to the facility. I was thrilled with how much insight I felt I gained not only about specific local forms of Inuit art, but about the growth and change in their society over the past century. The museum's permanent collection contains mostly American painting and sculpture of the 19th century through the present (built as a teaching collection, no doubt), but it has some remarkable originals and some breathtaking contemporary works that the museum's curators must be vigorously congratulated for acquiring. There is a substantial children's experiential gallery and pleasant gift shop as well. Finally, two small galleries present travelling exhibitions, which during my visit were of a unique collection of Canadian jewelry art and 19th Century American painting from the Manoogian Collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Simply brilliant. Highly recommended for arts lovers and more casual...

The Dennos Museum provided a unique experience. Also it was so much bigger than we originally thought upon entering. It felt like the rooms were never-ending, which I was glad for! We especially enjoyed the optional videos giving backstory to the different artists that have work displayed there. I actually saw a few works of art that I have always wanted to view in-person from seeing them online, which was an unexpected surprise. The lady working the front desk was very kind and made she we got the most out of our experience! She asked us about our trip and let us know how to navigate the museum and told us all about an outdoor path to follow to see even more sculptures! There was even an interactive room for children or adults which was very fun! There was also a great gift shop that we visited at the end of our tour. Very decent pricing and lots of unique art supplies or even just souvenirs! This place is quite the hidden gem on a college campus. We could not have asked for a better time. This place is definitely a bucket list location and we would love to visit again when...