Museums/Galleries
Featured Exhibit:
For current and upcoming events centered around the arts and historic DC please visit http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/. Many of these exhibits are FREE admission and some have discussions  about the art and the exhibition.
Museums and Galleries to visit:
Arts and Industries Building
900 Jefferson Drive, SW
The Arts and Industries building houses a re-creation of the 1881 Exposition for which it is named. The original U.S. National Museum, this architectural wonder once held many specimens (such as the Spirit of St. Louis) that are now on display in other Smithsonian museums. Presently, the museum features exhibition spaces and galleries that host historical artifacts and displays, along with a Discovery theater for educational programs.
Art Museum of the Americas
201 18th Street, NW
The Art Museum of the Americas houses art from Latin America and the Caribbean. Collections and exhibits feature prominent contemporary artists. The museum is also renown for both its famous Spanish colonial architecture and its community oriented educational programs.
Black Fashion Museum
2007 Vermont Avenue, NW
Founded in 1988, the Black Fashion Museum maintains a permanent collection of fashion items and memorabilia that celebrate the contributions of black men and women designers. Exhibits include authentic slave dresses and the clothes of Ms. Rosa Parks. There is also a continuing exhibitions that spotlights the pioneering work of Lois K. Alexander-Lane, founder and director of the Black Fashion Museum.
 The Corcoran Gallery
17th Street and New York Avenue, NW
With over 14,000 pieces of European and American art, The Corcoran is the largest non-Federal museum in Washington DC. With such artists represented as Whistler, Sargent, Renoir, Monet, Pissaro, de Kooning, Picasso and Calder, it is no wonder that the museum is so popular. And if that isn't enough to entice you, The Corcoran also has rotating world-class exhibitions year round.
Creighton-Davis Gallery
3300 M Street, NW
Known for its expansive on-site inventory of modern art, the gallery also maintains a large collection of works from the 15th-20th century. Featured artists include Licthenstein, Rembrant and Warhol. The Creighton-Davis gallery strives to represent new talents in art and is constantly adding to its collection by acquiring pieces from estates.
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum
1776 D Street, NW
Museum holds both decorative and fine arts collections. All works were made or used in America between 1700 and 1850.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Avenue, SW
The Freer gallery contains a vast collection of Asian and American artwork. Founded by Charles Lang Freer, the building includes paintings, ceramics, manuscripts and sculptures from areas of China, India, Japan and Persia. The Freer is also home to the largest collection of works by James McNeill Whistler.
Hirshhorn Museum And Sculpture Garden
7th Street and Independence Avenue, SW
A beautifully designed circular building with a fountain of concentric circles, the Hirshorn is based upon the extensive 11,000-piece modern art collection of Joseph Hirshhorn. The collection includes art by Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, O'Keefe and Rodin. A sculpture garden outside compliments the museum.
Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Museum is located near the National Mall, just south of Independence Avenue, SW, between 14th Street and Raoul Wallenberg Place.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America's national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country's memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust.
International Spy Museum
800 F Street, NW
The International Spy Museum is the only public museum in the world solely dedicated to the tradecraft, history, and contemporary role of espionage. The Museum's permanent exhibition presents the tradecraft of espionage through the stories of individuals and their missions, tools and techniques.
The Kreeger Museum
2401 Foxhall Road, NW
The Kreeger Museum showcases David and Carmen Kreeger’s art collection of 19th and 20th century paintings and sculptures, including works by Monet, Picasso, Moore and van Gogh.
MOCA DC, Museum of Contemporary Art
1054 31st Street, NW
Grassroots alternative artspace devoted to supporting contemporary art from regional, national and international across a diverse range of mediums and disciplines. Monthly openings on 3rd Friday of the month. Artist member shows give new and unknown artists an opportunity to exhibit their art, held once or twice yearly.
National Building Museum
401 F Street, NW
The National Building Museum, a nonprofit educational institution, was created by Congress in 1980 to celebrate American achievements in architecture, urban planning, construction, engineering, and design. It presents exhibitions and educational programs, collects artifacts of the building process, and publishes books and a quarterly journal. World-famous architect Phillip Johnson has called the building "the most astonishing interior space in America."
National Gallery of Art
4th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
Scattered throughout the meandering hallways and wings and exhibit rooms of the National Gallery's West Wing is a display of art stretching from the third century to present times - a display over 90,000 pieces strong.
National Geographic Explorers Hall
17th and M Street, NW
Come experience the wonder of National Geographic through interactive exhibits, artifacts on display, and changing major exhibits. The hall also offer Earth Station One, an interactive video presentation using a mammoth globe.
National Museum of African Art
950 Independence Avenue, SW
The museum's extensive collection consists of 7,000 African artworks in wood, metal,ceramic, cloth, and ivory.
National Museum of American History
14th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
The National Museum of American History collects artifacts of all kinds—from gowns to locomotives—to preserve for the American people an enduring record of their past.
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
The new National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) provides a place to celebrate your present achievements and your deepest hopes for the future, while allowing all Americans to experience the rich culture of the American Indian.
National Museum of Crime and Punishment
575 7th Street, NW
The National Museum of Crime & Punishment (NMCP) dissects both the overarching concept of crime and the dark side of the criminal mind; explores the techniques and methodologies employed by law enforcement agencies and the government to investigate and often solve such crimes; and through intensely interactive and highly-personalized scenarios, simulates the consequences associated with punishment, incarceration and rehabilitation.
National Museum Of Natural History
10th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
Some of the artifacts in this collection include a life size model of a blue whale, an enormous prehistoric white shark, an 80-foot dinosaur skeleton and no less a treasure than the Hope`` Diamond, a 45-and-a-half carat jewel known`` in some circles as the eighth wonder of the world.
National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
This museum is devoted to the history of America's mail service and houses the National Philatelic Collection. Exhibitions review the history of the mail service in Colonial times and the Civil War, the Pony Express, mail transportation, and the art of letters. Also on view is a priceless stamp collection.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, NW
Representing more than 500 women from nearly 30 countries, this museum holds 2,000 of the world's most important works of art by women.
Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
The Newseum is a 250,000-square-foot museum of news which offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. The Newseum features seven levels of galleries, theaters, retail spaces and visitor services. It offers a unique environment that takes museumgoers behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made.
The Phillips Collection
1600 21st Street, NW
The Phillips Collection, America's first museum of modern art, opened in 1921 in the home of Duncan Phillips (1886-1966). The Phillips Collection today is a publicly-supported, non-government museum, continuing to serve as the inviting place to enjoy art that Duncan Phillips envisioned. Discover for yourself the international treasure that is also one of Washington, D.C.'s best-loved museums.
Renwick Gallery
17th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Just a stone's throw away from the White House, this majestic building houses U.S. crafts designed from clay, glass, wood, fiber and metal; both past and present. Two rooms are furnished in the styles of the 1860s and the 1870s; the rest of the building is devoted to exhibitions about the diversity of this country's heritage in design, crafts and decorative arts.
Smithsonian Museums
The world's largest museum complex offers many opportunities to explore exhibits at various locations throughout DC. From industrial design and architecture to wildlife at the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Museums offer something for everyone.
The Textile Museum
2320 S Street, NW
The Textile Museum is dedicated to furthering the understanding of mankind's creative achievements in the textile arts.
Woodrow Wilson House
2340 S Street, NW
The Wilson House is a national historic landmark and house museum that focuses on President Wilson’s Washington years, 1913-1924. The museum promotes a greater awareness of Wilson’s public life and ideals through guided tours, exhibitions and educational programs.
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