Columbus Museum of Art

The Columbus Museum of Art is such a great part of Columbus. I liked coming here for class trips. The museum recently has expanded so there’s a lot of more room for new exhibits. Columbus has something to be proud of. The price of this experience is a value compared to visiting art museums in bigger cities.
Its new wing is nice looking and modern, but still blends in with the rest of the museum. There is an expanded sculpture garden which is outside the back entrance. Another addition to the museum is the new café. It’s branded by Cameron Mitchell, which means the food will be good but overpriced. This is the least important part of the museum for me, because I come to see the art, and have never cared about theI café. I like the layout of the museum. They have contemporary stuff where it will better hold the interest of kids. It has the more traditional paintings and sculptures on the upper level. There you can find O’Keefe flower paintings and it’s quieter so you can really contemplate the artwork.
The museum still has free admission on Sundays. It’s a popular time for families, so it gets really crowded. You still can’t get a better value for anything like this, and there will always be something new there.

Now that the brand new wing is open, I decided to combine a trip to see the 4^th annual Lego exhibit and check out the new space. As always, the Lego exhibit is fantastic, featuring the Ohio Stadium and a neat Columbus skyline. I love the fun touches throughout — it definitely gives you a lot to look at.
The new wing is wonderful too. It completely changes the look of the back entrance, which is bright and open feeling, and is flanked by the gift shop and the new Schokko Art Café, which is run by Cameron Mitchell Events and features a variety of salads, sandwiches, and entrees, plus a kids menu. Beyond this area is comfortable seating, plus galleries on both the first and second levels. The space is fresh, open, and gorgeous, and, of course, means that there is a lot more art to be seen! There are some great new exhibits, plus an event space.
The connectors between the new wing and the older museum are great, and despite the differences in appearance, there is a good flow between the old and new.
This is well worth a visit! Currently, it is free/​by donation on Sundays.

I love the Columbus Museum of Art. I’ve been coming here since I were a young kid in grade school (elementary school field trip memories!). Hadn’t been in a while and decided to come on a Sunday and take advantage of the fact that I didn’t have to work, or pay for admission. Sundays are free here and I’m still not sure how I feel about this. On one hand it’s nice that I get to save a little money, but on the other… it’s a mess! There were kids everywhere and it got old fast. Parking was a nightmare also. I actually ended up parking along Town Street and walking over — took me just 5 minutes since I walk pretty fast.
Anyway, I love the collections of art within, how each room/​time period is coordinated and the new wing. I always thought it were a beautiful museum anyway, but the addition of the new wing just made me love it ten times more. If you appreciate art or are just looking for something to do stop by the museum but be sure to scope out other areas to park, avoid Sundays if at all possible and definitely go when you’ve got plenty of time to browse and actually read up on each piece.

Wow!
The expansion project has turned this charming local attraction into a museum worthy of a city the size of Columbus! I can still remember getting to the old «café» for a snack and settling with goldfish, but with the restaurant, event spaces and sculpture garden, the museum is now in line with smaller art museums across the country.
The opening exhibitions were fantastic in that they were focused on Columbus, which I hope is something the museum continues while also bringing in great traveling exhibitions. I look forward to coming in again for free Sundays!

It was my first trip back since the opening of the new wing and completion of the renovations and I am stoked: the CMA is moving up in the world. Balancing need with form, a glassy status of the modern with the comfy environs of the old, the city’s future with its past, this new setup adds excitement as well as space while maintaining the familiarity for habitual museum visitors like myself.
The new wing is on the eastern side where the sculpture garden once sat. Named after the family that gave the largest donation, the Walter Wing features large spacy lofts with crystal bright lighting and fluid versatility. It is really nice. From the outside the wing looks sci-​fy, the second story overhanging the first, looking much like the rear rocket of a lego spaceship with a nine-​by-​nine array of glass planes framed by long green metallic bricks.
The enterance is still in the back, near the revamped parking – free like the muesum on Sundays. The new lobby features a spacy atrium between the new Walter and older Ross Wings. A clean stairway with a glass rail rises up to the second floor. The endeavor glass works with their wormy shapes and candy colors float above. A copper wall brings a richness to the space. The eastern wall of the old Itailian Renaissance Revival building is embedded in the new, creating an interior wall reminding me of Ohio Stadium after its renovations earlier this century.
I am happy that some of the charm of the old was kept. The rooms in Ross still maintains the quiet contemplation that seem to eminate of the marble floors. There improvement here too, including new beautiful molding at the Broad Street lobby, and new paints in its hall, highlighting the arching ceilings. The lovely center sun room remained smartly untouched with its neo-​deco magnetism.
The new environs come with a new Cameron Micheal café which I didn’t try. The gift shop is also improved. It seems like a more comfy Apple Store with chairs, than the ‘field trip’ stop it did in the past. The museum maintains its interactive focus with games, novelties, and fun on the first floor, as well as token voting in the exhibition rooms.
The sculpture garden is now out back and is larger. I’d imagine that more will be done with the plot in the future.
In all what a wonderful improved space, one that I look forward to seeing events, exhibits, and the 10,000 art work owned by the CMA.

I must say, I’m a fan of the new renovation of CMA. I’ve been here only like two other times in my days, both many many years ago. I wasn’t a fan of the sterile feeling I got with the old building. I also thought the exhibits/​permanent artwork was kinda, well, blah.
The newly built portion of the Musuem, a giant glass and turquoise cube looks out over Broad Street (north side) and CCAD on the south side. Looking out the Broad St. floor-​to-​ceiling glass wall, with the fall trees lining the street and old Catholic (?) church, takes my mind back to the streets of 5^th Ave in NYC. Great mental pic!
The new exhibits housed in the cube were also quite stimulating. I love bold, bright colors, so right up my alley. There’s even an small section displaying light/​mirrors concoctions!
Of course, the old parts of the museum are still alive and kickin. The kids section has been refreshed/​livened up.
I also got a chance to stop I the new Cameron Mitchell restaurant — Schokko Art Café. A few salads, a few different sandwiches, and a few more expensive «Entrees». I like how people can check out the Gift Shop, and eat in the Café, without having to pay admission to the Museum.

Beautiful museum with lots of hands on exhibits children and adults will love. Definitely worth checking out.

Just went and it is under too much construction to go. If you have kids, there is still a lot for them to do but for adults there are only a few rooms. I think they should offer free admission or close it completely because there is so little to see. They said more galleries would be open by the fall so wait until then to go if you can. Even as a art lover, there was too little here to suggest for you to go. Many paintings I saw in the their catalog were not up at all.

Had a lovely Sunday Funday at the Columbus Museum of Art. It was my monthly surprise date for my boyfriend. A nice & relaxing day. We opted to take the tour & them later broke off on our own.
Pro tip: admission is FREE on Sundays.

Very nice people. Studying and reading in the bright colorful lobby is preferable to waiting in the dingy greyhound station for seven hours… free wifi too!

Columbus has a pretty nice museum in the CMA, and plenty of free parking too. We brought my nephews and niece on a Sunday when kids get in for free. Pretty cool. It kept them entertained for about 2 hours, which is more than I can say for a lot of places we’ve taken them. I think they had more fun than when we took them to COSI, which is saying a lot. It gets busy though. Really busy. Like, lots of kids. I think this weekend, I’ll take the wife and we’ll hit up the more grown-​up parts.

I’m a member at this great art museum and always enjoy my visits. The collection and exhibitions are very high quality (if not huge). It is nice to see some art that doesn’t involve a Block-​O in our (red)neck of the woods.
I am looking forward to seeing the new wing when it opens, and I miss the space that’s currently closed. I’m hopeful that will crank it up to five stars.
My most recent visit was for the Wonderball, which was a playful event. The crowd was a fun mix of age, style, and lifestyle. The museum was set up with a mix of food, drink, activities, music, dancing, performances, and of course art around the various public spaces. I can’t wait until they can host it in the new addition.
(Personal Tirade: initially, the suggested dress for the Wonderball was «black and white attire is encouraged», which sounds like tux or black suit to me. So, I planned on the tux. The day of the event, I check out the event site and now it has added «not black tie, so get creative». I wore the tux anyway and looked great. So great in fact that I had several people complain that they wish they had worn their tux and that they hated the whole «creative black and white» thing. It just stressed them out. Event organizers: this wasn’t a themed sorority formal. If you’re going to call it a ball and have folks shell out some dough for tickets, stick to a standard dress code definition. Sorry. I had to get that off my chest.)

This is a new gem I discovered recently — I was browsing Facebook & saw that it has free admission on Sunday so my family decided to spend the day there.
It was crowded, but very fun. The downstairs portion allowed my 6 year old to touch mostly everything (which he loved), while the upstairs held more or a traditional museum feel.
The layout is nice — keeps contemporary and traditional exhibits separate & transitions nicely.
We spent most of our time in the hands on area which was the coolest portion, in my opinion.
This is not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

I really hope someday, in 2015, I can update my review. But 2 stars, «Meh. I’ve experienced better» is exactly how I would describe CMA at this point in time. I am an art lover, an art teacher, and a long-​time visitor to CMA. So, with a heavy heart I have to say that it currently stinks. And it has stunk, for quite some time.
It is small, difficult to navigate, and the permanent collection only has a few highlights. One would be a large portrait made by Kehinde Wiley, one of my favorite living artists. Another highlight is a Chihuly sculpture in the courtyard. Art history is not a focus of the CMA, so most of the art is not older than 200 years. This is not a place to see Egyptian or Asian art, which is what most people are used to seeing when they go to art museums. Most of the traveling galleries are less than exciting, and honestly you can walk this whole museum in 30 minutes easily.
I highly recommend the museums in Cinci and Detroit. The CMA has been a mess for over 10 years. I really really really hope the expansion helps.
Go to this museum on a sunday (it’s free), and walk over to the Topiary Park when you are done. Afterwards, wait until later in 2015 when the expansion is done. I really hope the CMA will greatly improve by then, because it’s current state is simply meh.

If you’re bringing children then you may want to stay downstairs where a majority of the kids’ activities are. Over the years they’ve been working on making the entire museum more child friendly and they’ve done a good job of it.
The museum collection rotates in a few rooms but sometimes it seems like the same paintings have been there for years. When they are on loan (like Morning Sun by Edward Hopper) you miss them.
Several times a year I stop by for a Thurber House Evening with Authors event and they do a nice job hosting.
The gift shop is often overlooked but has items at many price points that will appeal to many. This is actually my go to place for buying postcards due to the variety of cards they keep in stock.

There’s some lovely surprises in this art museum including paintings by women such as Artemesia Gentileschi («Bathsheba») and Elizabeth Vigee Lebrun (a portrait). There were also some great American artists so I visually overloaded on the early 20thC paintings by Hopper, Carter, Kent and others, and then the Europeans like Soutine and Matisse. There’s also a Renoir and Gris, and an Ingres, so the collection pulls in many of the best artists. We also visited the hands-​on exhibits and did some of the activities. Don’t miss the quilts either or the amazing glass sculpture in the atrium! The museum is undergoing a huge extension or addition but it doesn’t seem to get in the way of the exhibits. The garden entrance on the side is also a treat with a bunny sculpture and flower bordered ramps. A terrific experience all round!

Wonderful way to spend the day with the family! Sundays are free admission. To piggy back off that — parking meters are also free on Sunday. ;)
The entire bottom floor features hands-​on exhibits. We spent the most time here… crafting and drawing. The wonder room is absolutely beautiful. Its a great space to harvest creativity and explore ideas together. The kids really enjoyed it as well — I was surprised when my 15 year old made a comment about how cool it was — if you have a teenager, then you can probably understand.
The top floor has more traditional art for viewing. It was nice, numerous beautiful pieces of art. I wish that they had a bit more variety — not many sculptures or variations in medium. It was super cool that they had interactive areas and random public discussions via post-​it notes.
My gripe is — it wasn’t big enough… I want to get lost in a museum for several hours. I want to have to come back to see everything… maybe the expansion they are working on will remedy this issue — fingers crossed.

Lots of nice artwork here.
They have many of the classic painters — Renoir, Picasso, Gauguin, Warhol, Monet,. etc.
They have an interactive art section which is quite interesting.
Not a large museum, but definitely some good content.

Another place I can’t believe I haven’t already reviewed. I’ve been here many times over the years, and it’s a decent museum. But not a great one. The collection is just okay, and the place is not very big. Right now, there is massive construction going on, so maybe it will get a lot better.
Then again, free Sundays! And occasional interesting exhibits. This time we went on a whim to see Jewish marriage contracts. Very cool exhibit. We wandered the rest of the galleries, and had a nice time.

Probably the only positive thing I can say about this museum, other than a Chihuly exibit, is that it’s free on Sundays.
One would hope that a museum in the state’s capital would be more than a few small rooms of non-​descript art. I would swear I have had larger apartments than this place.