Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Huntsville Museum of Art is the city's main art museum, standing at 300 Church Street SW on the edge of Big Spring Park in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. It holds a permanent collection of more than 3,000 works and hosts changing exhibitions. It also makes an easy anchor for a walk through the heart of the city.

The story behind it

The City of Huntsville created the museum by ordinance on 13 August 1970. Its first exhibition followed in 1973, and in 1975 it moved into the Von Braun Center, the city's civic and convention complex. In March 1998 it opened in the building it occupies today, beside the park. A later expansion in 2010, the Davidson Center, gave it more room for galleries and education programs.

Like most museums, it shows only part of what it owns at any one time, so the walls change as exhibitions rotate and works come out of storage. The collection includes Andy Warhol's Moonwalk, a fitting piece for Huntsville, the city nicknamed the Rocket City for its ties to the space program.

What to look for

• Notice how the building sits right at the water's edge of Big Spring Park, so the lagoon and the trees become part of the setting.
• Check the exhibition banners and signs near the entrance to see which shows are on, since the galleries change through the year.
• Look for space-age themes in the collection, a nod to Huntsville's identity as the Rocket City.
• Pause on the walkways around the lagoon for a view back toward the museum and the downtown skyline.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about an hour or two inside if you like to read the labels, and a little more if you add a stroll around the park.
• You can go inside to see the galleries, but check current opening hours and admission before you go.
• Soft morning or late afternoon light is pleasant for walking the park and photographing the exterior.
• Big Spring Park and the downtown streets are right next door, so it combines easily with a coffee stop or a wander through the city center.

See it on a quest

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Huntsville brings you to the museum on foot as one stop on a longer route through downtown. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle in what is in front of you, so you look at the streets more closely. One ticket covers the whole group.

Ghost Hunt in Huntsville is a spooky-themed walk that also passes the museum and the park around it. You go from place to place at your own pace, hear the story of each stop as you reach it, and solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.