Today we will acquaint you with the most interesting museums of the United States, which are famous not only for the richest collections of modern art, a unique collection of military equipment, but also for absolutely amazing and unusual exhibits. Since it is almost impossible to tell about all American museums, we chose the top ten, in our opinion, it would be simply inexcusable to ignore them.
Art Museum of Denver
“Denver Art Museum” or “Denver Art Museum” – this museum consists of two completely different buildings: an interesting medieval castle, created by Italian architect Gio Ponti, which is connected by an amazing glass bridge with another interesting structure, created in the style of cubism and distinguished by a completely inconsistent combination of geometric forms, the work of modern architect Daniel Libeskind. The angular forms of the new museum building are a symbol of the Rocky Mountains, which inspired the master. The interior of this American museum is a bright atrium, the height of which is four floors, here reign angular forms, beveled ceilings, and because of the curved walls, museum staff placed the expositions very atypically. This art museum’s holdings include great works of art from different eras and by different peoples of the world. In the Denver Museum you can get acquainted with the original art of Native Americans, pre-Columbian era, see the original samples of folk art of Oceania, Africa, Asia, get acquainted with the magnificent collection of paintings of French artists of the nineteenth century, as well as with the amazing collection of paintings by British artist Berger. There is an extensive exposition of paintings by impressionist painters, as well as Renaissance and modernist paintings by famous European and American masters.
Contemporary Jewish Museum
“Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco or “Contemporary Jewish Museum” – this building opened its doors to the public in 2008, due to the appearance of the huge Jewish diaspora here. The architect of the museum building was Polish-Jewish architect Daniel Libeskind, who designed something special, with a distinctive author’s style. But this museum does not aim to tell the visitors about the tragic history of the Jewish people, on the contrary, it evokes optimism, so it is often called the “Museum of Life”. In the museum lobby you can see the symbolic word “Pardes” – “Garden of Eden” which has a special meaning for the Jewish people and is inextricably linked to the holy Torah. On the ceiling of the first tier of the auditorium, you will see what appears to be an abstract drawing, but after a closer look, you will realize that it is a “map of Israel”. The architecture and interiors of the museum itself can tell a lot without words. There are galleries, exhibition halls, an educational center and numerous auditoriums. At the museum, you will learn about outstanding representatives of the Jewish people who have made a huge contribution to the development of the world. The Contemporary Jewish Museum showcases the very best associated with the Jewish people.
Milwaukee Art Museum
“The Milwaukee Art Museum” or “Milwaukee Art Museum” is an absolutely amazing building that looks like a snow-white seagull soaring over the calm waters of beautiful Lake Michigan. “The Milwaukee Art Museum opened in May 2001. Visitors were introduced to the amazing “Quadracci Pavilion,” the work of famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The structure in an interesting futuristic “biotech” style, is a movable high-tech structure – “wings”, which reach a span of sixty-six meters: they open when they meet the sun, and fold in inclement weather, thus regulating the temperature regime and natural light in this original museum building. This stunning composition, called “Solar Breeze”, naturally, it could not help but become a symbol of the city of Milwaukee, located in the American state of Wisconsin. “Milwaukee Art Institute” with “Leighton Art Gallery”, united the art collections, forming the “Milwaukee Art Center” in 1957, which was later renamed “Museum of Art”. There are twenty-five thousand works of painting, in a variety of styles and directions: paintings by old masters, works of artists of the twentieth century, a unique collection of authors paintings in the style of German expressionism, great masterpieces of American postmodernists, works of indigenous and Haitian artists, paintings of “magic realism” artist Georgia O’Keefe, works of artist Gabrielle Munter, from Germany, created in the expressionism style. The museum has a specialized store and restaurant “Café Calatrava”.
Flying Heritage Collection Museum
The Flying Heritage Collection Museum in Everett. This museum, located in the American state of Washington, is incredibly popular among tourists and the Americans themselves, because the most interesting combat aircraft, miraculously preserved after World War II, are presented here. In addition, you can see exhibits that were created not only in the U.S., but also in Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Russia. Many of those planes did not return to the airfields themselves: they were removed from the battlefields, after fierce air battles. These machines were restored and rebuilt.
The ideological inspiration for the display of warplanes was Paul. G. Allen, who in 1998 began buying up military vehicles that had participated in battles. Today there are fifteen rare air vehicles and other items of historical value, including: – German fighter-attack plane “Fv-190A-5,” which crashed in 1943 near Leningrad and was discovered in 1980, almost intact; – German aircraft “Fv-190D-13” – this exhibit was created as a fighter and interceptor, it survived the war safely, was carefully restored and can still fly; – the German fighter plane “Bf-109E-3” created in 1939, the famous pilot Eduard Hemmerling flew it over France, the exhibit was discovered in 1998, it was sticking out of the sand near Calais; – a Soviet “Po-2” training plane, which bomber pilots flew during the war, it was recovered by members of the Polish flying club, found in Belorussia; – a British Hurricane Mk2A, which never took part in hostilities. Among the exhibits there are also planes equipped with original radios that are still in working order. The Flying Heritage Collections museum is open from ten in the morning to five in the evening. Weekends here are: Thanksgiving and Christmas. In the summer, the airplanes on display take to the air between twelve and one o’clock in the afternoon. If you love history, you have the opportunity to attend lectures by military aviation historian Corey Graf.
Titanic Museum
“The Titanic Museum” in the town of Pigeon Forge. This unusual museum of America is located in Tennessee, it is entirely dedicated to the infamous ship Titanic. Even the building of the museum, is an absolutely exact replica of this sunken ship, and has a scale of 1:2. Even without entering the museum, you will be surprised and dumbfounded. Before you enter the building-ship, you will be given a ticket, as a real passenger of the ship, and the ticket will be personal: there will be data of one of the passengers of that ill-starred flight, and at the end of the tour you will be able to know, whether the fate was favorable to the person, specified on your ticket, and whether he survived in the disaster? Unfortunately, not everyone managed to survive, and so many visitors show up on the way out with upset faces, but still, the tour of the ship does not become any less fascinating and mesmerizing. Inside the museum, there are real belongings of passengers and crew recovered from the bottom of the ocean, after this high-profile shipwreck. You’ll be able to touch the iceberg that pierced the hull of the ship. It’s clear that things didn’t fully survive, so most of the items here are recreated copies of those original items that were on the Titanic. But, in the American “Titanic Museum” often are held and … celebrations: birthdays, anniversaries and weddings, because do not forget that the ship was truly beautiful, luxurious and had mind-boggling interiors.
The Museum of Death
The “Museum of Death” in Los Angeles. Of course, this museum is a very controversial institution, because it is dedicated to death, in all its manifestations. The museum opened in 1995, its slogan being, “We’re all going to die, then why not learn more about death?” Healy and Schultz assembled the museum’s collection. The museum, which reveals the mysteries of human existence, is located on Hollywood Boulevard and is open seven days a week, from eleven in the morning until eight in the evening, and on Saturday until ten in the evening. Admission costs fifteen dollars. There is even free parking next to the museum, which is a huge rarity in Hollywood. But, if you decide to visit this amazing and undoubtedly interesting museum, you should remember that this place is not for children, not for pregnant women and not for impressionable people with a weak nervous system. There are no guides in the museum, but why should you explain the obvious things? The museum’s collection of exhibits includes the most incredible exhibits related to death: from tools for embalming bodies and dissecting corpses to photographs of executions, consequences of gruesome traffic accidents, victims of serial killers and maniacs. And the main pride of this unusual American museum is the head cut off on the guillotine in the early twentieth century, belonging to a French murderer of women. It was carefully embalmed and preserved as a keepsake. There is a whole room dedicated to suicide bombers.
In addition, there are a large number of videos: executions, murders, tortured bodies. It is very important for the visitor of such a museum to have a strong stomach and iron nerves. In terms of time, it takes about forty-five minutes to see the exhibits, although visitors can stay in the halls as long as they want. At the museum there is a store where you can buy a souvenir in the form of T-shirts, windbreakers, mugs, badges, magnets, bags, wallets with “death” symbolism.
Museum of Naval Aviation
“Naval Aviation Museum” in Pensacola. This interesting museum was formed to preserve and fully display historical artifacts pertaining to the history of naval aviation. The collection of this American museum includes more than seven hundred aircraft, though most of them are exhibited in other American museums. Pensacola’s “Naval Aviation Museum” has one hundred and fifty machines on display, including: – The NC-4 aircraft, a “flying boat,” because it was able to be the very first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and was also named a “Hero of the Battle of Guadalcanal SBD Dauntless, Battle of Midway.” – two Vietnamese MIG Killer aircraft; – the A-7 Corsair 2 – which participated in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq; – the F-14 Tomcat, famous for its incredible combat sorties. There are also very rare pieces of military equipment of great historical value. The museum features a collection of World War II rival aircraft: Japanese N1K2-J George and A6M Zero fighter planes, as well as the F4U Corsair, F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat. But air vehicles are only a small part of the museum’s collection: there are four thousand sets of military and uniforms, many insignia, summer gear, awards of pilots, other military and service personnel, and a huge book library “Emil Buehler” with personal and official documents related to famous naval pilots, photos and records.
International UFO Museum and Research Center
“The International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell. This interesting museum originated in the United States in 1991, it was founded by Glenn Dennis in New Mexico, after the high-profile “Roswell Incident.” The museum preserves the history of observations of various unidentified flying objects and mysterious phenomena. This museum is a “Mecca” for science fiction fans who believe in the existence of UFOs. In this museum and educational institution in one person, you will not be convinced of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations visiting our planet, but will be convinced of the need to ask uncomfortable questions for many, to conduct important research. The museum has a lot of information about the “Roswell incident”, unexplained crop circles, abductions and their return with implanted “chips” of extraterrestrial origin. There are models of alien aliens, UFO designs, reports of the “autopsy of an alien corpse,” documentaries, and more. You can visit the museum from 9 am to 5 pm, except holidays. Ticket prices are five dollars for adults and two dollars for children.