Huntsville Museum of Art
Special Note: I wrote the post below in August of 2010 and in November the Davidson Center for the Arts opened which contains eight additional galleries including two aimed specifically at children and families. A more updated 2015 review of the Huntsville Museum of Art can be found HERE.
Huntsville Museum of Art is adjacent to Big Spring Park and close to Earlyworks Children’s Museum and Constitution Village. Admission is $7 for Adults, $3 for Children ages 6- 11, children under 6 are free. There is a good reason why children are so cheap (or free) this is NOT a place for small children and probably not very fun for young school-aged children either. There is a “children’s exhibit” in the basement of the museum but it’s nothing more than framed art you can see in any school hallway. While it’s nice that they offer the opportunity for local children to have their work in the museum, it’s the only part of the visit that my daughter was even remotely interested in and she was interested for about a minute.
If you are thinking of taking your child here, ask yourself these questions. Are your children good at being quiet? Are they good at following directions (including not touching anything)? Are you prepared to talk to them about fine art, what it is, how it comes about and why it’s in a museum? If you answered yes to all these, you can make this a really fun trip and it’s always a good idea to teach children to love art (and museums in general).
Rocket City Mom is a website about raising children in and around Huntsville, Alabama. Started in late 2010 by a local mom and newcomer to Huntsville, Rocket City Mom has grown into a thriving community of local parents and now boasts a staff of four, thirteen regular contributors, and tens of thousands of Tennessee Valley readers making it the #1 Parenting Resource in North Alabama.