Art & Culture Activities

Pueblo Revival-style building which houses the largest permanent collection of Georgia O'Keefe's works. The museum is located two blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza.

Collection of European, North American, and East Asian Art located on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence.

Collection of 19th century European and American sculpture, painting, and photography. Particularly impressive is the French Impressionist collection.

Collection of 19th century European and American sculpture, painting, and photography. Particularly impressive is the French Impressionist collection.

Lovely outdoor sculpture garden and gallery, with whimsical dancing statues by artist Tom Maley, located across the street from Alley’s General Store.

One of the largest and nicest galleries on the island, located at the Red Barn on Old County Road.

Nine-acre waterfront park that was transformed from an industrial site into an open space for art. The grounds, which are part of the Seattle Art Museum, are home for works by such artists as Alexander Calder, Richard Serra, and Mark di Suvero. Admission is free.

Museum dedicated to ancient Etruscan, Greek, and Roman art. The Villa, which is a replica of a 1st century Roman country house, sits atop a bluff overlooking the ocean in the town of Pacific Palisades.

This second of the two locations of the J. P. Getty Museum, well known for its architecture, gardens, and pre-20th century European art collection. The Center sits atop a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains, with panoramic views of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean.

Located on a bluff above the waterfront in what was once the residence of philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, this museum has over 4,000 works representing every major art movement of the past half century, with a particularly strong emphasis on California artists.

Impressive collection, focused on Asian Art (Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Tibetan), 19th and early 20th century French and English Art, early 20th century American Art, International Modernism, Photography, and Contemporary Art.

Museum in the Seattle Center that showcases the works of the world-renowned Northwest glass artist, Dale Chihuly. There are eight galleries displaying a comprehensive collection of his work, a 40-foot tall Glasshouse with an expansive 100-foot floral-like sculpture in reds, oranges, yellows, and amber suspended from its vast ceiling, and an outdoor Garden filleded with glasswork complementing the trees, plants, and flowers along its winding paths. Admission is $23.

Nine-acre waterfront park that was transformed from an industrial site into an open space for art. The grounds, which are part of the Seattle Art Museum, are home for works by such artists as Alexander Calder, Richard Serra, and Mark di Suvero. Admission is free.

Quirky art in a quirky neighborhood that refers to itself as "The People's Republic of Fremont" or "The Artists' Republic of Fremont." Some of the most famous examples include the Rocket, a 16-foot bronze statue of Vladimir Lenin, the Center of the Universe Guidepost, Waiting for the Interurban, and, of course, the Fremont Troll.

Fine arts museum houses a priceless collections of American art from the 17th through 20th centuries, textiles, and art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.In 2005, the museum was reopened in a state-of-the-art new facility that integrates art, architecture, and the natural landscape. There is also an outdoor sculpture garden. Admission is $10 for an adult, but also allows same day admission to the Legion of Honor.

Fine arts museum located in Lincoln Park, in a spectacular setting overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge, and much of San Francisco. The museum’s spectacular setting is made even more dramatic by the imposing French neoclassical Beaux-arts building that was built to commemorate the Californian soldiers who died in World War I. Today it houses an impressive collection of Ancient art from throughout the Mediterranean and the Near East; European decorative arts, sculpture, and painting; and the largest collection of works on paper in the country. Its collection includes Rodin’s Thinker, who thoughtfully greets visitors as they enter the museum’s Court of Honor.

Photography gallery in Bishop with the stunning, vibrant mountainscapes of Galen Rowell

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Monumental sculptures in a dramatic setting amongst mountains and the Mojave Desert. It is located in the town of Rhyolite just off Highway 394, near the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park.

Excellent art museum in Reno, Nevada. When we visited there was a special exhibit called “Tahoe: A Visual History,” which surveyed historical art of Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass. The exhibit was arranged chronologically and covered over 200 years of the culture and history of the Lake Tahoe area – the Native Americans who first populated this region, the infamous and tragic story of the Donner Party, the laying of the Transcontinental Railroad by Chinese laborers, the logging and mining boom, the shift to tourism and the rise of resorts in the early 20th century, and the impact of climate change on the lake’s ecosystem.

Free museum, by the Balboa Park Visitor Center, which houses paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, El Greco, Cezanne, Pissarro, Bierstadt, and more

With a focus on the natural world, this museum houses .5 million speciments, including rocks, fossils, taxidermied animals, a dinosaur skeleton, and a California fault-line exhibit. There is also a giant 3D-screen theater showing films with a focus on the natural world.

Oldest and largest art museum in San Diego. renowned Its works include a fine selection of European old masters, 19th and 20th century American art, an encyclopedic Asian collection, and growing collections of contemporary and Latin American art.

Built for the Panama-California Exposition of 1915-16, this building, with a Lily Pond and Lagoon in the foreground, is one of the most photographed scenes in the Park. The building’s central dome and two wings are covered with redwood laths, allowing natural sunlight to filter in on its collection of more than 2,100 tropical plants and palms.

Collection of more than 7,000 images, representing the entire history of photography, its aesthetic movements, and technological advancements. The particular focus of the museum is social documentary photography and photojournalism..

Hands-on science museum with over 100 interactive exhibits. The Fleet is also home to Southern California’s only IMAX Dome Theater.

Anthropological museum containing artifacts, folk art, and archaeological finds. The building was originally constructed for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition.

Houses a collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft from all over the world, including a working flying replica of Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the actual Apollo 9 Command Module spacecraft, and artifacts from the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and other aviation and space pioneers.

Dedicated to art of the people (mingei) from all eras and cultures of the world, this museum features dynamic, changing exhibitions of historical and contemporary folk art, craft and design.

Features more than 80 historic autos and motorcycles, including Frank Sinatra’s 1967 Austin Petrol Hire Car and Louie Mattar’s Fabulous $75,000 Car, as well as early 1900 "motorized bicycles" manufactured by the Indian Motorcycle Company and Harley Davidson.

World's largest operating model railroad museum, with four landscaped working models of actual Southern California railroads, both historical and contemporary.

Originally a teahouse during the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition, today the two-acre garden contains winding paths that lead visitors past a Zen garden for meditation, an exhibit house, koi pond, bonsai exhibit, ceremonial gate, and a Fujidana (wisteria arbor).

Collection of more than 130 gigantic metal sculptures scattered across the barren landscape around the park. They are the work of an artist named Ricardo Breceda, who was commissioned in 2008 by Dennis Avery, the owner of the Galleta Meadows Estate, to create a collection of prehistoric creations on his three square miles of undeveloped land in Borrego Springs. Since then, the collection has grown to include human figures along with contemporary animals, such as big horn sheep, elephants, tortoises, horses, and more.

The “mountain” is not a real mountain, but rather built, by a local named Leonard Knight using adobe mixed with straw, and about a half million gallons of brightly-colored paint. It stands 50-feet high and 150-feet across. It surface is entirely covered with Christian sayings, Bible verses, and calls to “Love Each Other”.

An experimental art community and art garden museum that is the antithesis of Salvation Mountain in terms of theme. Everything was constructed of salvaged refuse and recycled materials; in other words, trash. Every piece had a powerful and thought-provoking message to be absorbed and contemplated.

Monumental sculptures in a dramatic setting amongst mountains and the Mojave Desert. It is located in the town of Rhyolite just off Highway 394, near the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park.

Pocket-sized (30-foot wide) baroque church built in 1740 by two brothers to be used as their personal place of worship. It is the epitome of religious opulence, with every inch of its walls and ceilings covered with gold, Putti, frescoes, and stucco flourishes.

Huge Gothic church with 99m high onion-domed towers, which serves as the spiritual heart and symbol of Munich. This lovely Gothic church built in the 1400s is located just a few hundred yards northwest of the Marienplatz.

The oldest parish church in the city, known affectionately by locals as Alter Peter (“Old Peter”). Its interior is a virtual textbook of art through the centuries with an eclectic mix of Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo features. Its most unique possession is the jeweled skeleton of a female martyr in a glass coffin.

The largest Renaissance church north of the Alps at the time of its construction. It has an ornate baroque interior with an impressive unsupported barrel-vaulted ceiling. It is most famous for being the final resting place of “Mad” King Ludwig II, whose crypt you can visit for 2 Euro.

Only tower left from the wall that once encircled Munich and one of Munich's most photographed landmarks

This large art museum in the Kunstereal (Art District), featured in "1,000 Places to See Before you Die," holds one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings from the 14th through the 18th century. The list of artists whose works are on display was a veritable “Who’s Who of Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo Art”: Albert Durer, Rogier van der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch, Rembrandt, Frans Hal, Rubens, van Dyck, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (my personal favorite), Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, El Greco, Velaquez, and on and on.

Art Museum in the Kunstereal (Art District) which has an impressive collection of of Realist, Romantic, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Art Noveau paintings and sculptures of the 19th and 20th century. Artists whose works are displayed include: Delacroix, Courbet, Millet, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Munch, Klimt, Turner, and more.

Art Museum in the Kunstereal (Art District) which houses one of the world’s largest collections of modern and contemporary art. The Museum is divided into four major collections. The State Gallery of Modern Art contains works from artists such as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Magritte, Klee, Dali, Kandinsky, Andy Warhol, and more. There is also the New Collection, which focuses on applied design, with such pieces as VW Beetles, Eames chairs, early Apple macs, etc.; the Architectural collection, which focuses on the history of baroque and Bauhaus architecture, and the State Graphics Collection, which has drawings, prints, and engravings, from artists such as da Vinci, and Cezanne.

Contemporary building picturesquely situated atop the Monchsberg with wonderful views of the city.

One of two ferry stops on the Konigsee where there is a quaint onion-domed pilgrimage church, originally built in the 12th century in the Gothic style, and remodeled in the 16th century into its current baroque appearance. It is one of the most visited and photographed places in Berchtesgaden. There is a restaurant and beer garden outside the church. During the summer, they serve fresh fish right from the lake.

Official residence of Venice’s doges (dukes) and the seat of the Republic’s government. Built in the 14th century, this incredible building was meant to be a statement of Venice's wealth and power. Highlights along the tour of the palace include: the large central courtyard and the Scala dei Giganti (Staircase of the Giants); the Sala del Maggiore Consiglio, or Hall of the Grand Council; Tintoretto's "Paradise," the largest oil painting in the world; and the Bridge of Sighs and prison.

Museum that houses a collection of art, documents, and objects charting the history of Venice from the Medieval 13th century up until his death.

Venice’s signature church, built in the 11th century to replace the original chapel which was destroyed by fire in 932. Its architecture - exterior domes, arches, and spangled spires; gold mosaics covering both the exterior and interior space, and lavish colored marble - illustrates Venice’s strong connection with Byzantium. Admission to the church is free, but you can pay 1 euro to skip the long lines.

Island about a mile north of Venice that is famous for its glassware shops and factories. The island has been the center of a thriving glasswork industry since 1291, when the risk of fires in crowded Venice forced glass artisans to move to Murano. The main attraction on the island is, of course, glass, with countless shops selling Murano glass beads and souvenirs, factories to watch master glass makers performing their craft, and the Murano Glass Museum in the Palazzo Guistinian to learn about the history of glass making.

First settled in 452, Torcello was the earliest center of civilization in the Venetian lagoon and had its own cathedral long before Saint Mark’s was built. Once the most populated of all the islands, with estimates as high as 20,000 people, today it is a quiet place with only about 10 permanent residents. Visitors do come, however, to visit the beautiful 7th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the 12th century Church of Santa Fosca.

Island known for its fine, handmade lace and picturesque, pastel-colored fishermen’s houses. The main attraction on this island are related to lace: numerous shops to purchase handmade lace items and the Museum and School of Lace Making to learn about its history. Visitors should also spend an hour or two wandering along its canals and through its pedestrian alleys, photographing the brightly colored houses, especially in evening light.

Roman Catholic Church in the village of Tasch. The interior was much simpler than the Catholic Churches we had visited so far in Munich and Venice, as would be expected in the parish of a small village. The most interesting thing about this church is the beautiful cemetery in front. Rather than tombstones, each grave has a wooden-carved cross, topped by two more pieces of wood, forming a triangle - kind of like the roof of a chalet. Each marker had the deceased’s name and dates and was surrounded by personalized items - photographs, flowers, candles, memorabilia, etc.

Small chapel hollowed out of a large boulder that sits on the valley floor, surrounded by meadows and pastures. The interior is quite small - just a few wooden pews set before a small golden altar. Rather than the usual cross representing the crucifixion, the bottom of the altar contained a glass, coffin-like box containing a replica of the body of Christ.

The largest of Bangkok’s Buddhist temples and home to the famous 150-foot Reclining Buddha.

Also, known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew is the colloquial name for the vast, fairy-tale compound that also includes the Grand Palace, the former residence of the Thai monarch. The gounds encompass more than 100 buildings, representing 200 years of royal history and architectural experimentation. Today it is Bangkok's biggest tourist attraction.

The summer palace of the kings of Thailand, about 40 miles north of Bangkok along the banks of the Chaopraya River. The buildings are laid out alongside a lovely pond, lined with formal plantings. The original palace was built by King Prasat Thong in 1632 when Thonburi was still the capital of Thailand. The buildings fell into disuse for a long period, but were revived by Rama IV in the 19th century. Most of the buildings as they stand today were created by his successor, Rama V, who also expanded the area into the magnificent sprawling Versaillesque gardens in the late 19th century.

The temple was constructed in 1374 by King Boromma Rachathirat I. The design of the Wat Mahathat followed the concepts of the ancient Khmer mountain temples of Angkor in Cambodia, which featured a large central tower, called a prang, standing on an elevated platform, surrounded by four subordinate corner prangs, forming a quincunx, kind of like the number 5 on a dice.

This temple was built in 1630 by King Prasat Thong, the same ruler that build the original summer palace that we visited yesterday morning, Bang Pa In. Like Wat Mahathat, it was built in the Khmer style, with a larger central prang surrounded by smaller prangs on each of its corners. Built of the same materials (laterite and brick), it too was reddish in color, even more pronounced in the evening light.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition to building Khmer-style, corn-shaped prangs, as in Ayutthaya, Sukhothai temple craftsmen also developed their own style, known as the “Sukhothai style,” the most notable feature being one central lotus-bud chedi, surrounded by smaller bell-shaped chedis, used to house relics, such as the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns.

Small temple complex located right behind our hotel, also known as the “Elephant Circled Monastery.” It consists of a main bell-shaped chedi (to hold relics), in the Sukhothai style, with 36 elephants sculpted into its base.

Better known as the “White Temple,” this temple was unlike any temple we had seen so far. Everything was a brilliant white, and the pieces of glass embedded in the plaster made the buildings shimmer and sparkle even more in the sunlight. The original Wat Rong Khun that was on these grounds was in a bad state by the 1990s, and despite efforts to restore it, the project was canceled due to lack of funds. That’s when a famous Thai visual artist from Chiang Rai, named Chalermchai Kositpipat, stepped in and offered to completely rebuild the temple with his own money. Besides being beautiful to look at, every detail of the temple carries meaning and is meant to encourage visitors to reflect on the Buddhist teachings and show the way to escape from worldly temptations, desires, and greed and to focus on the mind instead.

Listen to the nuns chant their morning prayers

A golden stupa used for meditation and rituals as well as a reliquary for the remains of Buddhist monks. Visitors to the pagoda pay their respects by making offerings and performing rituals at the station associated with the day of the week on which they were born.

14th century temple of great significance that houses a very sacred Buddha relic - a bone believed to be from the shoulder of the Buddha. This sacred relic is enshrined in a large golden chedi (pagoda), surrounded by numerous white chedis that contain the ashes of several generations of the Chiang Mai royal family.

Continuing on with the story from the Wat Suan Dok. When the monk arrived, the bone magically split in two. The smaller piece was enshrined in the Wat Suan Dok, but the king had the larger piece put on the back of a white elephant which was set free to wander wherever it wanted. The elephant chose to take the high road and wandered to the top of Doi Suthep mountain, where it was said to have trumpeted three times and then died. Taking that a divine sign, the King had a Wat built on top of the mountain to house the relic, on the very spot where the elephant had collapsed. There is a beautiful 306-foot staircase leading up the mountain to the temple terrace with a balustrade made of a tiled mosaic water serpent ("naga").

Wonderful performance of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy

Monumental sculptures in a dramatic setting amongst mountains and the Mojave Desert. It is located in the town of Rhyolite just off Highway 394, near the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park.

Oldest and largest art museum in San Diego renowned for its fine selection of European old masters, 19th and 20th century American art, an encyclopedic Asian collection, and growing collections of contemporary and Latin American art.

Collection of more than 130 gigantic metal sculptures scattered across the barren landscape around the park. They are the work of an artist named Ricardo Breceda, who was commissioned in 2008 by Dennis Avery, the owner of the Galleta Meadows Estate, to create a collection of prehistoric creations on his three square miles of undeveloped land in Borrego Springs. Since then, the collection has grown to include human figures along with contemporary animals, such as big horn sheep, elephants, tortoises, horses, and more.

The Agora (which means “gathering place) was the real heart of ancient Athens. From 600 BCE to 300 AD. It was the place where ancient Greeks, and eventually the conquering Romans came to shop, conduct business, pass laws, talk philosophy, and attend plays. We paid our 8 euros each and entered what are mostly the ruins of the Agora. Little survives from its height, except for the Temple of Hephaestus and a stoa that was reconstructed in 1952.

The Acropolis has been the heart and soul of Athens for millenia, and many temples have graced its hill. What we would see today was the rebuilding in 450 BCE, when the Athenians, fresh from their victory over the Persians, decided to rebuild the destroyed buildings on a grand scale.

Pericles, Athens’ leader at the time, funneled Athens' newfound wealth from donations by allies in the Delian League into a massive rebuilding program, led by the visionary architect/sculptor Pheidias. The result is an incredible 4-building ensemble: the Propylaea (entrance gate), Parthenon, Erechtheion, and Temple of Athena Nike.

Archaeological site in the Aegean Sea's Cyclades archipelago, near Mykonos. The mythological birthplace of Apollo, it was a major religious center and port during the 1st millennium B.C. The island's ruins encompass Doric temples, markets, an amphitheater, houses with mosaics and the iconic Terrace of the Lions statues.

Crete holds the distinction of being the birthplace of Europe’s first advanced civilisation, the Minoan culture, which flourished from 2800 to 1450 BC., and it is the buildings excavated at the Palace of Knossos that are the main source of information about Minoan architecture and culture. Much of the palace was reconceived and reconstructed by Arthur Evans, who worked here between 1900 and 1932. His reconstruction though is a bit controversial, as archaeologists (including our guide) felt that he took a bit too much creative license in its restoration.

Demonstration by a master potter in a village of potters. He was pretty amazing. He slapped a lump of clay on his wheel, hit the gas pedal, made the clay rise, made the clay widen, gave it a spout, made patterns in its side - and poof, out came a beautiful amphora in less than 3 minutes. My attempt was a little less skillful

Site that has been inhabited since Neolithic times, but reached its pinnacle after it became the capital of Roman Crete around 67 BCE. At that time, there was believed to be as many as 100,000 residents. Highlights include a Roman Odeon (theater), stone tablets with the oldest law code in the ancient Greek world inscribed on it, the tree under which Zeus seduced Europa, the 6th-century CE Byzantine Basilica of Agios Titos.

The site has been inhabited since the Final Neolithic period (c. 3600-3000 BCE), but its greatest period of influence was from the 20th to 15th century BCE, during which time it, along with Knossos, was one of the most important centers of the Minoan civilization. The palace of Phaistos was once the second largest palace in Crete, with Knossos being the largest. It was built on the most spectacular setting of all the palaces, high on a hill, overlooking the entire fertile Messara plain, with Mr. Ida, Crete’s tallest mountain (8,058 feet) in the distance.

Climb the tower to the top of the Basilica del Voto Nacional, the largest neo-Gothic church in all of South America, for a stunning view of Quito below.

The cathedral was designed in 1890 by the French architect Emilio Tarlier, who was inspired by the Notre Dame and Bourges cathedrals. It is an extremely impressive structure - 460 feet long and 115 feet wide, with its two frontal towers reaching a height of 377 feet. I particularly enjoyed the gargoyles protruding from the exterior: Ecuadorian iguanas, tortoises, armadillos, and Andean condors, chosen to represent the local endemic fauna rather than classic mythological or religious figures.

Explore the heart of Quito’s Old Town, the Plaza Grande, also known as Independence Square, where palm trees and well-manicured gardens line the walkways through the park, with a large fountain in the center. The plaza is surrounded by ornate colonial architecture, the most impressive of which is the Carondelet Palace, where Ecuador’s president lives and works. Near to the Palace is the Metropolitan Cathedral, a Catholic church also known as the Cathedral of Quito. Rather eclectic, it has a variety of architectural styles that blend very well together - Gothic style arches, a Baroque main altar, a Neoclassical choir area, and Moorish style ceilings.

The most ornate and beautiful of all. Built by Jesuits between 1605 and 1765, this church is the pinnacle of Latin American Baroque. The church is known for its gold plated interior built by artists from the Quito School, who skillfully carved and gilded every inch of the Church with 23-carat gold sheets. My biggest regret is that photography was not allowed, meaning I am going to basically forget that I have ever been here. However, the exterior was not off limits, so we were able to photograph the lovely green and gold domes atop the church.

One of Quito’s most beautiful squares, surrounded by whitewashed walls and the twin bell towers of Ecuador’s oldest church and the Andes mountains in the background. It was our fourth and final church of the day.

The plaza is dominated by the Iglesia and Convento de San Francisco - the largest religious complex in South America. Established in 1536 by Franciscan monks, this magnificent architectural masterpiece features a museum (Museo Fray Pedro Gocial) in its convent with one of the most beautiful and complete collections of Quito Art from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

View the 30+ murals on the abandoned fish factory and other buildings in town, created by a team of international artists in the summer of 2018

The museum, which is now one of my favorites, is free and contains a broad range of art mostly focusing on art from the Canterbury region of New Zealand and New Zealand as a whole, including Maori art and contemporary works that reflect the country's diverse cultural landscape.

The building itself is a work of art, featuring a striking, flowing glass and metal facade, which is intended to evoke the koru and flow of Christchurch’s Avon River. Koru is the Maori word for a spiral shape that symbolizes new beginnings, growth, and harmony. It's a key symbol in Māori art, carving, and tattooing.

Exploring street art near Cathedral Square

Quirky desert art installation just outside Las Vegas along I15. It consists of seven seven brightly colored, stacked boulders, each standing over 30 feet high
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Housed in a 16-acre complex of renovated 19th-century factory buildings, it is one of the largest and most ambitious contemporary art institutions in the United States. Instead of erasing this industrial past, the museum's design embraces it, creating a unique environment where art and history intersect.The museum’s huge, light-filled galleries (one nearly the size of a football field) allows MASS MoCAto exhibit large-scale, immersive installations that would be impossible to realize in a conventional museum setting.

Set on a picturesque 100-plus-acre campus at the foot of the Taconic Mountains, the SVAC features a variety of exhibition spaces as well as the largest sculpture park in Vermont. creating a unique fusion of art and nature.

The vast, barren landscape of the Black Rock Desert serves as the canvas for massive artworks, sometimes several stories high. The sheer size of the art against the vastness of the desert is a breathtaking sight, designed to evoke a sense of awe and wonder.