Spurlock Museum — Attraction in Urbana

This museum is absolutely amazing! We explored all the galleries with fascinating art from all over the world, but were excited to see those from Ancient Mediterranean and the Americas. It was outstanding. The museum offers a wealth of history and culture. We enjoyed learning about Latin American art, including fascinating pieces from Bolivia (with a surprise of a sensory experience!). The Native American art displays were equally impressive, showcasing the richness and depth of their traditions. A standout feature of the museum was the interactive screens, which provided detailed insights into rare objects, such as a fragment of the letter of James from the New Testament. We also loved listening to music created with ancient versions of violins and other string instruments, which added an immersive element to our visit. Admission is free, and parking on the street is free on weekends. There are puffs and cushions in the galleries to have a moment of gentle rest. The facilities were spotless, and I greatly appreciated the availability of sanitary pads in the restrooms—a thoughtful touch. The staff were incredibly kind and friendly. We deeply enjoyed our visit and highly recommend this museum for anyone interested in history,...

Spurlock is a museum of world cultures rather than cultural history, and to that end it puts equal weight on human groups of the present as well as from the past. Exhibitions cover all continents except Antarctica, but certain geographical areas (e.g. Central Asia) are left out. Interpretive information is ample, though mostly text-based. Each gallery is governed by a big idea (e.g. "individual" for ancient Mediterranean) and covers multiple smaller themes. Personally, I would prefer that every gallery starts with the same human universals (e.g. subsistence, marriage) and then proceeds to topics characteristic of that continent. Given what is in the collection, however, that may not always be possible.

Overall, this is a very educational museum. Plus, admission is free (with a small suggested donation), and the galleries don't feel crammed. If you want to read everything from the labels (and booklets) you would probably need a half day. If you live in the area, it may be better to check off one or two...

We took the kids to Spurlock over the weekend. One of our children got hooked on "Lost Treasures of Egypt", and Spurlock has a good collection of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and African items on display including a sarcophagus and a mummy.

We printed the bingo pages from the museum's website and the kids had to find each item. They ran around and were very excited to find the different objects. A couple of highlights include finding a statue of Pharoe and a mummified falcon. Both of which we didn't know were at the museum. We spent close to two hours there and then went to lunch at one of the nearby restaurants across the street. (There are several, including a shawarma place, pizzeria, Asian cuisine, coffee shop...