Nashville Museums - A Review

When I asked my beau to plan a romantic weekend for a visit to see him (we're long-distance), he was a bit at a loss. We were going into Nashville for a day to see some sights, but not being big country music fans, we had trouble finding some low-key, but fun spots to check out. Knowing my passion for museums, he decided we should visit a couple of the bigger sites in Nashville.

First, we checked out the Tennessee State Museum, which for the most part was underwhelming. Being a state museum, it's likely underfunded and many of the exhibits were out of date. However, I was incredibly impressed with the Civil War exhibit. Being the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, many museums are focusing on some aspect of the war. In fact, the Missouri History Museum has a large Civil War exhibit. I was a bit unimpressed with that exhibit mainly because there wasn't much of a coherent voice and the interactives were not useful. You also walk out of that exhibit a bit somber. It's war, of course, but it hesitates at the end heavily on grief. The exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum, on the other hand, does a great job of leading you through an adventure - an archives adventure that is! You "work" with archivists at the interactive touch screens to find materials that led them to conclusions about the war and thus the exhibits. Definitely a good use of touch screens. The museum was also buzzing with life due to a book signing and live musical performance. Definitely nice to see the museum attracting a large crowd for that event.

Photo Credit: Me!

Second, we walked to the Frist Center for the Arts. Definitely was not sure what to expect in the way of art in country music's hometown, but I was blown away. The Frist Center is a first class institution in a gorgeous building that Art Deco nerds would love. Three amazing exhibitions were on display - one on Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas, another on Rembrandt and the Golden Age, and a contemporary interactive art installation piece. The combination of each of those very different exhibitions showed the breadth of content the Frist can display in its halls.

However, what impressed me most about the Frist was its children's area - Martin ArtQuest. Of the art museums I've visited in my life, about half of them have a children's area - all with varying levels of interactivity and engagement. Martin ArtQuest is by far the best children's area I've seen in an art museum. There is a variety of displays representing multiple art styles and mediums. While I was there, I created a print at a printmaking station, while my boyfriend was very impressed with the stop motion animation station. Kids of all ages could enjoy something with their families. The staff was very friendly and talented - one staff member was drawing on the sketch wall. I could have spent all afternoon exploring the Frist, but I think my non-museum professional boyfriend would have been bored. He was already playing on his phone by the time I finished my print.

Photo Credit: Clarksville Online

Overall, we spent about 4 hours touring the museums - 2 hours at each. While the State Museum was much larger than the Frist, the Frist has far more to engage us. In fact, we were hoping to stick around for an impressive party that was being arranged as we toured the Frist. Mostly, we were impressed by the level of activity in each of the museums. Sometimes state-funded institutions can be stuck in the past, and while many of the exhibits needed updating at the State Museum, it was refreshing to see new exhibitions and an event going on. Next time we're in Nashville, I'm definitely going to want to see what's new at the Frist.