university of michigan museum of art

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i moved to ann arbor a few weeks and it was definitely time to visit a museum! i figured the first stop should be the university of michigan museum of art. they recently completed an addition on this museum which was started when i was wrapping undergrad at the university. this new wing, the maxine and stuart frankel and the frankel family wing, contains new modern and contemporary exhibits.

the museum was not crowded, but definitely was not empty. it was a nice level of busyness.

i only visited the first floor of the museum figuring i will go back and visit the second floor. the first floor of the "old" wing, alumni memorial hall, contains european (renaissance and 18th century) and american art. it was a refreshing mix of paintings, sculptures and artifacts. the art was quite beautiful although tended to be lesser known artists. i really enjoyed the renaissance sculptures on the main floor as well as the large american landscape paintings.

i did not enjoy the contemporary art as much, but i think that is more a personal tendency than anything else. the family that was in that exhibit with me seemed to think it was fascinating.

it seems like the museum is trying many different ways to get people into the museum. for example, they had this set of four tours that were titled like the "(s)he's just not that into you" or the "this winter is getting to me." for the example the "winter" tour features paintings of spring and flowers!

looking forward to going back to see the second floor!


times visited: 1
time spent in museum: 1 hr
overall: B+
Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

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