Worcester Art Museum

It’s nice to have an art museum so close to downtown. I went on a day that was free to local students during the knights exhibit. I was an interesting way to spend an afternoon. I’d like to go back and see some of the other exhibits, I feel like they put in a lot of effort to appeal to the interests of the local youth which is good if it gets more people looking at art.

I grew up in Wustah. In the ghetto. Like Plumley Village, Austin and Piedmont Ghetto.
Thankfully, I liked to read, became good at it, and was placed in a program called PEAK: providing enrichment for able kids. I did this for several years in elementary school, and I firmly believe it got me to take education seriously in grade school. It should be noted, I am the only person in my family to go to and graduate college,
My favorite PEAK program took place on Thursdays as the Worcester Art Museum. It was a magical place for an elementary school kid. I got to explore and work in the museum’s workshop rooms, dark rooms, get education from the museum docents, staff, and generally get enthralled by amazing works by those famous, like Piet Mondrian and Georgia O’Keefe, and those not as famous, but equally inspiring.
I wouldn’t trade my experience at memories at WAM for anything, for I remember them more vividly, and think they did more to inspire my life, than anything I learned in my regular elementary school classes.

Didnt expect to see Andy Warhol, Mondrian, Degas, and others so I was pleasantly surprised. Especially with free admission from my BoA membership. Worth checking out the first weekend of every month!

I can’t say enough about WAM. I’ve enjoyed all the temporary exhibits. And the place has a killer permanent collection. It’s absolutely a joy and I go several times a year.
They purchased most of the defunct Higgins Armory Museum collection. Comprehensive and beautiful. And if you have the time, scoot over to the Higgins building. It’s the coolest building, my most favorite in the world.

We took our two children (7 and 11) to the Worcester Art Museum over February school vacation. We were so excited to be there with only a handful of people because we didn’t feel rushed or crowded. We were having a lovely visit until on of the museum workers started screaming at my 7 year old. We were walking through one of the exhibition halls and there was a wooden table in the middle of the room with a display case on top. My 7 year placed his hands on the table to get a better look at the display case and the worker started screaming «GET AWAY NOW!» repeatedly and it echoed through the empty exhibit. I told my 7 year old to step away (mind you there were no hands off signs or roping to keep enthusiasts kids away from the table) but the worker kept shouting at him. She followed us into the next exhibit and started lecturing my son about how art is to be looked at not touched and his gross hands will ruin the wooden table. I had to tell her that I think she got her point across in the rudest way possible and if you don’t want children touching wooden tables then rope it off or place signs around it. After this encounter she proceeded to follow us from exhibit to exhibit. We cut our visit short and left. We talked to our children about the expected behaviors while being inside the museum before we went in and they obeyed all the signs and ropes. This one extremely rude worker ruined our entire visit and we most likely will never return.

An absolute gem, I’ve visited this museum once every few years since I was a kid, but every time I come back they feature something new and brilliant.

What a treat! Went here with a friend for Flora in Winter. First time for Flora, my friend’s first time to WAM. We were so impressed. They did a fabulous job. We attended a floral demonstration — A+. My friend, who has volunteered at Art in Bloom at MFA and has attended a number of their demos, said this was far better than the few she’s been to at MFA. I would agree. Full of useful information. The buffet lunch was terrific. And the docent tour following was well done. My only criticism was that it was very crowded — but that’s good news for the museum. Highly recommend Flora and the museum was definitely worth a return visit to further explore their collection. A nod also to their museum shop which had some really fun and unique gifts. Kudos to WAM for a wonderful winter respite!

I love going to the museum. It is large and full of amazing art from all periods. If you go there when the café is open that’s a bonus. I especially love the renaissance period of art it displays in pictures the feelings of how important the church was in those times.

Not as widely known as it deserves to be, the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) is a fine, encyclopedic museum, first opened in 1898, and well worth a detour for art lovers of all ages. It includes one or more rooms dedicated to Egypt, China and other Asian cultures (including a particularly strong collection of Chinese jade and other carved stones), Ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval Europe, Europe from the Renaissance through the twentieth century and American fine and decorative arts. WAM’s current director, Matthias Waschek, PhD, arrived in 2011, and among the major developments since he joined has been the ongoing integration of the outstanding collection of the Higgins Armory Museum (formerly in Worcester, MA where it was founded in 1931 as the Hemisphere’s only dedicated museum of arms and armor) which closed permanently at the end of 2013. Unfortunately, in a trend also seen in some other art museums intent on creating a new «visitor experience,» he chose to rehang the European Old Master collection in a salon style that is claimed to be «reminiscent of the 17^th-​18^th century,» but is actually more frustrating and less educational for many 21^st century visitors who learn far more about the art and culture of the past if there are (as there had been) labels available for consultation adjacent to individual works.
Nonetheless, European collection highlights include (if you can find them!) Piero di Cosmo’s The Discovery of Honey by Bacchus (1499), del Sarto’s Saint John the Baptist (1517), and additional oils by El Greco, de Ribera, Strozzi, Leyster, van Ruisdael and Rembrandt among others, as well as Veronese’s Venus Disarming Cupid (1560), donated to WAM in 2013. The Museum building also incorporates a complete French Chapter House (ca 1190) and Roman floor mosaics installed in their Renaissance court. WAM holdings of American paintings include portraits by Copley, C.W. Peale, Stuart and Eakins, landscapes by Morse, Hicks, Cole, Bierstadt and Innes, and scenes by Homer, Sargent, Cassatt, Hassam, Sheeler and Hartley, among many others. WAM holds occasional special exhibitions and has active education programs, including in collaboration with some of Worcester’s many institutions of higher learning. Facilities include a well-​run fine dining café (although it is only open during lunch hours) and a book and gift shop. They have their own parking lot and are accessible. Tours and lectures are offered as are family events, including around arms and armor since their acquisition of the Higgins collection.

I’d been told what a gem the museum is. Compared to the surrounding area, yes… it is, but I wasn’t as impressed as I wanted to be with the collection. There is a good variety of styles of art — but it didn’t feel like the works had a good flow within galleries or from area to area. I was hoping to reconnect with the knights from Higgins, but only saw a handful. Several galleries did not have posted signs identifying the artist or work — it was explained to me that this would help me appreciate the art more without that distraction. When did information become a distraction? There were tablets mounted to posts with the information, but if I wanted to spend the afternoon clicking through a tablet, I could have done that at home. Loved the funky benches in the European section — now those were artistic and creative. Loved the gift shop (great selection of gift items) and the staff overall was very enthusiastic, helpful and available.

What a beautiful part of Worcester. Members can go to art history lectures on third Thursdays and they have farmers’ markets and other events for the general public the yearlong. The integration of the Higgins collection is stunning and there are fun activities for kids throughout the museum.

What a great day! The museum is huge and there’s much to see and appreciate. There was live music, and varied themes. There were so many things I appreciated! It was a Saturday and there were many kids and families. It was nice to see that there was so much for children to do. I will definitely be going back several times through the year to see the changing exhibits.

World class collections. Amazing space.
But please tell me why it smells so bad???

I’ve never been much for art museums, but everytime I visit I see something special.
When taking a break they have an excellent restaurant, but check the hours. The restaurant closes much earlier
Wonderful place for a date and kids

#ThisIsNewEngland visited WAM, the Worcester Art Museum because it was raining, and we had never been there. We expected to see the Samurai display and the Knights, mostly a collection bought from Higgins Armory, and we expected a 1 hour visit.
What we got was ever so much more. 3.5 hours, and we will have to go back. Art, Culture, weapons, painting and more. A must see. To read our review see

Worcester’s winter thaw
Epic snow crumbles concrete
Patrons use caution
#NOLA_​Haiku #Haiku
#Worcester #WPI
#BostonWinter
#WorcesterArtMuseum

This museum is such a diamond in the rough – very cosmopolitan in a city that is, generally, less so. It was also fantastic to find out that there’s free admission on the first Saturday of each month if you arrive between 10am and noon. The collection is pretty comprehensive, with the galleries separated by period and region. The space, itself, is gorgeous and impressive. I loved the write ups by each piece of art – the background and facts were both interesting and insightful. I think one of my favorite pieces was a landscape by Samuel F. B. Morse – I had no idea the inventor of Morse code had so many other hidden talents!

Free for veterans and military — YAY! Small, quaint and delightfully surprising. A respite in the hustle and bustle, worth the visit. Walk in stressed, walk out inspired.

Attended a wedding here and it was beautiful. Was only able to see the first floor art, which was okay. I’m still in love with the photo piece that was hung above the front door/​in the main corridor.

Beautiful venue and nice art collection.
On this particular day, a choir was performing in the atrium which was very pleasant sounding and full of Christmas spirit.
Special exhibits we visited included the ReMastered works of 16^th to 18^th century artists and the Hubble Telescope image. Other collections we visited included the European art works, especially Impressionism which is my favorite, and modern works including one Pollock.
Note that no Picasso artwork is included, which is a bit disappointing.