Best Neighborhoods in Houston for Museums

The Houston Museum District covers an area within a 1.5 mile radius of Hermann Park’s Mecom fountain.When it comes to Houston museums, the neighborhood around Hermann Park is one of the best. In fact, on January 27, 1997, eleven institutions in the area formed the Houston Museum District  to promote the district as a destination for both local and visiting museum enthusiasts. Since then, seven other museums have joined the organization.

Highlights of the Houston Museum District

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston possesses more than 63,000 works of art, from ancient to modern times, representing cultures from around the globe. Works of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Modernism are represented in the Beck Collection, which includes paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas and Mary Casatt. The museum's temporary exhibits are equally impressive, featuring extensive traveling collections from all over the world.

At the opposite end of the artistic spectrum, the Rice University Art Gallery is the only university art museum dedicated specifically to installation art, providing temporary, unconventional art in spaces that visitors can enter and explore.

The Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust through permanent and temporary exhibitions. Permanent exhibitions include a 1942 World War II railcar of the same type used to carry millions of Holocaust victims to their deaths and a Danish boat used to rescue 7,200 Holocaust victims during a three-week period in 1943.

Houston Museum District Programs

Combined annual attendance for the museums in the district total over 6 million visitors. Over 1 million more are served by programs affiliated with the district. A day is set aside each year to introduce new visitors to the neighborhood. On “Museum District Day,” all the museums are free. Free shuttle service is offered as well. Also held each year is a “Museum Educators Open House” for public, private and home-school educators, providing information about educational programs offered at the various institutions.

Admission and Transportation

Ten institutions in the Houston Museum District are always free. They are: the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Holocaust Museum Houston, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the Houston Center for Photography, The Jung Center of Houston, the Lawndale Art Center, The Menil Collection, the Rice University Art Gallery and The Rothko Chapel.

The Museum District is accessible from major highways in the area, as well as from four METRORail stops. Other organizations in the Houston Museum District feature specific times when admission is free. These include the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, the Children’s Museum of Houston, The Health Museum, The John C. Freeman Weather Museums, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.