Huntsville Museum of Art

The Huntsville Museum of Art sits in Big Spring Park in the middle of downtown Huntsville, steps from the Von Braun Center and the restaurants around the courthouse square. The museum describes itself as a magnet for cultural life in the city center, and its setting beside the park’s lagoon and walking paths makes it a natural stop on any downtown visit.

The museum was founded in 1970 by city ordinance as a nonprofit municipal corporation governed by a city appointed board, and it serves Huntsville and Madison County. Its current building opened in 1998 with seven galleries. The Davidson Center for the Arts expansion in 2010 doubled that number, and today the 75,000 square foot facility holds fourteen galleries totaling about 20,000 square feet, along with meeting and event spaces designed to connect the interior to the surrounding park.

The permanent collection includes more than 3,000 objects with a strong focus on American art of the 19th and 20th centuries, especially from the Southeast. Highlights include works by Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Helen Frankenthaler, Louise Nevelson, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, more than 400 works on paper, and contemporary pieces in glass, wood, fiber, metal and clay by artists such as Dale Chihuly and Harvey Littleton. The Sellars Collection of work by American women artists active from 1850 to 1940, including Mary Cassatt and Lilla Cabot Perry, is a signature holding, and visitors will also find Buccellati sterling silver animals and South American, Asian, African and European works.

Families gravitate to the Stender Family Interactive Galleries, which include an Escher-like color wheel and A Walk Through Time, an exploration of ancient cultures and art through the ages. Special exhibitions rotate through the remaining galleries during the year, so the museum changes between visits.

Docent led tours are available for adult and student groups, and the museum works to make its spaces accessible, including a call box at the Davidson entrance where guests with mobility needs can request help from security staff. Four rental spaces host weddings, receptions, meetings and parties, with tours of those spaces by appointment.

The museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 5pm, Thursday from 10am to 8pm with reduced admission after 5pm, and Sunday from noon to 5pm, and it is closed Mondays and several major holidays. Admission is charged for adults, with discounts for educators, seniors, military and students, free entry for members and children 12 and under, and reduced rates through Museums for All. The museum is cashless, and large bags must be stored in lockers. Free parking is available in the museum’s lot at Church Street and Williams Avenue after registering a vehicle.