28 Twitter-Sourced Destination Museums

ADDED 10/4/2011 – Link to an organized spreadsheet of these museums and more is HERE! Special thanks to superstar digital interns @PtheFigg, @MELgoesROAR, and @MarDixon. Additional assistance and teasing provided by the indefatigable @MuseumSukkel. – MN

Original Post:
Today I asked twitter friends to help me think of some “destination museums.”

Without a definition beyond the implications of the examples, responses were all over the map (literally and figuratively). Here are the responses pretty much in the order I received them and unedited.* All twitter handles should work as hot links and the date stamps should link to the original tweets.

o5man: Museums in Doha, Qatar @QatarMuseumsAut @MathafModern @MIAQatar #destinationmuseums – 22 minutes ago

jermychrstpher: the Ludwig Museum in Cologne Germany to see Kienhotlz’s portable war memorial. – 1 hour ago

joanieStudio: …and on the outdoor note, groundsforsculpture.org opening a new 7 acre addition tomorrow. They have indoor space 2. – 2 hours ago

agasab: I’d add the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark to the list. Have you been? Beautiful setting, amazing art. – 2 hours ago

studiowatermark: “destination” museums: @the_clark, Dalí Museum in Figueres, Spain; Castelvecchio Museum (Scarpa), Villa Rotunda (Palladio) – 2 hours ago

holartbooks: a couple destination museums that come to mind: @inhotim (Brumadinho, Brasil), and @crystalbridges (Bentonville, AR) – 2 hours ago

rwetzler: Tate St Ives? – 2 hours ago

cindyhwang: Cornell’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum – they’re opening a new wing in October too! – 3 hours ago

kaylarak: Cornell’s Johnson Museum is @HFJMuseum…. it’s where i cut my #museumnerd teeth. “Gorges” IM Pei building – 1 hour ago

NoGoPhoto How about @StormKingArtCtr? Not a traditional idea of a museum, but still… – 3 hours ago

sirintugbay: Istanbul Modern (Istanbul), Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)? –
4 hours ago

CRHolland: James Turrell Museum in Colomé, Argentina: bit.ly/rfkYZJ –
4 hours ago

TheodoreArt: how about @serralves_twit? – 4 hours ago

zoesalditch: Uffizi (Florence) – 4 hours ago

mambolica: There’s @ROMtoronto (Toronto) @Civilization (Ottawa/Hull) @metmuseum (NYC) and @rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) for a start. – 4 hours ago

gmdlt: Benesse House Museum, Naoshima Islamd, Japan. Designed by Tadao Ando – 4 hours ago

Jamesmartincole: Dan Flavin institute? – 4 hours ago

tricia_gilson: Surely the Vatican Museum is a destination museum. The museum itself doesn’t tweet but the Vatican does @news_va_en – 4 hours ago

l_wil: The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art in Auburn, AL. – 4 hours ago

kholdesign: add storm king sculpture park, milwaukee art museum for architecture – 5 hours ago

And a bonus link to a New York Mag article on destination museums from Erin Goldberger a.k.a. thescrambledegg: i remembered reading this awhile ago when searching for bilbao nymag.com/arts/art/featu… – 4 hours ago

* While I can’t imagine anyone coming to New York City just to go to the Metropolitan Museum, I’m sure it happens. I’d been thinking about museums that are pretty much the main or only major attraction which brings visitors in from out of town. I went to Minneapolis for the Walker, but also for Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minnesota Historical Society, Soap Factory, and a bunch of other places.

7 responses to “28 Twitter-Sourced Destination Museums”

André Breton | October 1, 2011 at 7:24 pm | Reply

The Andre Breton website http://andrebreton.fr is also a museum – without any (more) wall to hang the paintings, without any (more) shelves to put the sculptures, but still, it is a virtual museum @andre_breton
Bo | October 4, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Reply

The Brandywine River Museum in Chaddsford Pennsylvania is a real gem!
SpaceCampUSA (@SpaceCampUSA) | October 4, 2011 at 9:49 pm | Reply

Great list! We would add http://www.ussrc.com for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Guests can get exclusive behind the scenes tour of Space Camp and Aviation Challenge.
Andrea Gentleridevan | October 5, 2011 at 1:52 am | Reply

Parrish Art Museum has been a destination on the East End of Long Island for over 100 years, and is opening a new facility designed by Herzog & de Meuron in 2012.
John | October 5, 2011 at 3:41 pm | Reply

Art Tower Mito

How can no one have mentioned Prado, Louvre, and the Hermitage?
Or are we all so well traveled that those are passé?
- MuseumNerd | October 5, 2011 at 4:18 pm | Reply
  
  I was pretty much all-inclusive of what people said in tweets and coped them verbatim to make the post. In my mind the cities where the latter museums you mentioned are in (Madrid and Paris especially) are such big draws for so many reasons that the museums are less “destination” museums. In my mind it’s all about the museum being a draw to a place you wouldn’t otherwise go. Now, for me, that’s sort of skewed because so much of my travel is largely museum-motivated regardless of the other attractions a city may have to offer!
Katherine | October 5, 2011 at 4:41 pm | Reply

Its an involved trip to get to Hakone Open Air Museum in Japan but totally worth the journey by rail. There’s a Picasso Pavilion and some other exhibition halls, a footbath fed by natural hot springs, and some great pieces where kids can play.