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The South is more than guns, cheap beer, and religious conservatives and the Birmingham Museum of Art proves it.
This museum boasts one of the most diverse and expansive collections in the Southeast US. Everything from American quilting to Vietnamese ceramics is represented, not to mention a collection of 18th C. French decorative art that is said to be one of the largest bestowments ever given by a single donor to an American museum.
If that's not enough the reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp are glowing; one even mentions the staff stopping to help a baby bird that had flown into a window. Combine that type of southern hospitality with free general admission and parking and you have yourself a must-visit.
An example of the strength of the southern woman, the museum was born from the Birmingham Art Club which was founded in 1908 by four local female artists: Della Dryer, Willie McLaughlin, Alice Rumph, and Mamie Holfield. The group campaigned for years to bring art to the Birmingham community, finally opening the official museum inside City Hall in 1951. The museum broke ground on a permanent building in 1958.
Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes who created the famed Walker Art Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Smart Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, etc. (dude seriously loved designing museums) planned the museum’s 1993 expansion.
Did I mention they host a monthly “First Thursday” after-hours event where you can admire the art with a cocktail in hand? You’ll find me near the French décor, mint julep in tow, imagining I’m Marie Antoinette.
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Here is what Wikipedia says about Birmingham Museum of Art
The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. Its collection includes more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing various cultures, including Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian, and Native American. The museum is also home to some Renaissance and Baroque paintings, sculptures,and decorative arts from the late 13th century to c. 1750.
The Birmingham Museum of Art is owned by the City of Birmingham and encompasses 3.9 acres (16,000 m2) in the heart of the city's cultural district. Erected in 1959, the present building was designed by architects Warren, Knight and Davis, and a major renovation and expansion by Edward Larrabee Barnes of New York was completed in 1993. The facility encompasses 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2), including an outdoor sculpture garden.
The museum is part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, launched in 2021 by the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art.
Check out the full Wikipedia article about Birmingham Museum of Art
