City: Houston, TX

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (713) 639-7300

Address: 5601 Main St.

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Description: With 57,000 works of art and 300,000 square feet of exhibit space, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston is one of the country’s largest art museums. MFAH, as the museum is often called, consists of two main buildings—the Caroline Wiess Law Building and the Audrey Jones Beck Building. Add in the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, some 18 acres of public gardens, the Glassell School of Art, and two houses devoted to decorative arts, and the MFAH practically qualifies as an empire. The museum’s original building—the Caroline Wiess Law Building—dates back to 1924, when William Ward Watkin designed the building in the neoclassical style. Between the late 1950s and mid-1970s, renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed two additions—Cullinan Hall and Brown Pavilion—in the international style. Today the Law Building’s galleries house most of MFAH’s 20th- and 21st-­century pieces; art from Asia, sub-­Saharan Africa, and the Pacific Islands; the world’s most renowned collection of gold objects; and internationally acclaimed exhibits spanning centuries, continents, and media. Inside the Law Building, you can also watch contemporary and classic flicks in the Brown Auditorium Theatre and research in the nationally renowned Hirsche Library. In 2000 the MFAH opened the Audrey Jones Beck Building, just steps east of the Law Building. The first major museum designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Rafael Moneo, the Beck Building features large lanternlike skylights in the roof, bringing natural light to many of the building’s galleries. Inside you’ll find exquisite American art, prints, drawings, photographs, a high-­ceilinged sculpture court, and special exhibits. The lower levels of the Beck and Law Buildings are connected by a tunnel lined with James Turrell’s neon-­colored light installation, The Light Inside. There’s a lot to see here, so consider taking one of the museum’s free tours to learn about the MFAH’s permanent collection, special exhibits, art history, and specific works or artists. Tours last from 20 minutes to an hour; they’re not offered in September. Before leaving the museum, take a walk through the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, located at the corner of Montrose Boulevard and Bissonnet Street. With more than 20 sculptures and other works from 19th- and 20th-­century artists like Henri Matisse and Auguste Rodin, this serene garden is the perfect place to contemplate or daydream. The garden is open daily. A museum ticket gets you into both the Beck and Law Buildings. General admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids ages 6 to 18 and seniors 65 and older. Kids under 5 get in free. MFAH is included on the Houston CityPass. Admission is free on Thursday, though you’ll still have to pay for special exhibits. Ticket prices for special exhibits vary, but can surpass $30 per person in some cases. Free parking is available in lots on Main Street at Bissonnet and Main Street at Oakdale. There’s also a four-­story parking garage just east of the museum on Binz Street; parking here costs $3. The Beck Building is closed on Monday, excluding Monday holidays such as Memorial Day and Labor Day.