Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The Gibbes Museum of Art is a neoclassical art museum at 135 Meeting Street in the historic centre of Charleston, South Carolina. It opened in 1905 and is known for American art with a Charleston connection, including a well-known collection of portrait miniatures. The building is a landmark in its own right, and it sits on one of the city's best streets for walking.

The story behind it

The museum grew out of the Carolina Art Association, founded in 1858, which for decades had no permanent home. That changed when James Shoolbred Gibbes left $100,000 in his will for a suitable building to hold art exhibitions. His relatives contested the bequest in court, but the gift was upheld and the city received the money in the early 1900s. The architect was Frank Pierce Milburn, and the gallery opened to the public in 1905.

The museum later went through a major renovation and reopened in 2016. Around it, Meeting Street carries centuries of Charleston history. Just across the road, the Circular Congregational Church has a churchyard often described as the oldest burial ground in the city, with stones dating to the 1690s. Around the corner on Church Street stands the Dock Street Theatre, whose site is tied to a theatre that opened in 1736 and is claimed as the first building in America designed for theatrical performances. The present building dates from a 1930s reconstruction.

What to look for

• The classical facade on Meeting Street, with its columns and pediment, which gives the museum the look of a small temple to art.
• The Tiffany-style stained glass dome in the central rotunda, if you go inside.
• The portrait miniatures, small hand-painted likenesses that are a specialty of the collection.
• The churchyard of the Circular Congregational Church across the street, where weathered gravestones show how early the city was settled.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about an hour for the galleries, or ten minutes if you only want to see the exterior and take photos.
• Check current opening hours and admission before you go, as they can change.
• Morning light is kind to the facade, and the street is calmer before the midday crowds.
• Combine it with a short walk to the Dock Street Theatre, the churchyard and the nearby historic streets.

See it on a quest

Our Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Charleston is a good way to see the Gibbes and its neighbours. You reach the museum on foot as one stop on a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

If you like a darker side of the old town, try Ghost Hunt in Charleston. The route passes this stretch of Meeting Street, tells you about each place as you get there and sets a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

For a different kind of puzzle, Charleston Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. leads you from stop to stop on foot, with the app telling you about each place and a puzzle to solve at each one. One ticket covers the whole group.