I’m a museum junkie. It doesn’t matter whether exhibits are of artwork, historical significance or oddities. I simply enjoy seeing collections. Here’s a look at a few interesting places that opened recently, or will soon.
Urban Lantern at Fort Worth's Museum of Science and History; exterior of new building at the National World War II Museum.
Fort Worth’s Museum of Science and History
The new $80 million museum opens its doors this Friday, Nov. 20—and it’s free for the first 3,500 guests. The large, 166,000-square-foot building, designed by Legorreta + Legorreta from Mexico City, will feature interactive exhibits, ranging from Fort Worth history to CSI: The Experience, giving visitors the chance to work a crime scene. The museum’s entrance, dubbed the Urban Lantern, is made of 500-pound glass panels lit using LED fixtures and fluorescent lights, sending a beam of light into the sky. Its lighting ceremony takes place tonight (Nov. 16). www.fwmuseum.org
The National World War II Museum
The first of four new buildings of this museum’s $300 million expansion plan opened earlier this month in New Orleans, with the premier of Tom Hanks’ movie, Beyond All Boundaries, a 35-minute film using 4-D technology to takes viewers through the “war that changed the world” from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the last battles before victory. The museum’s exhibitions blend personal accounts, artifacts, documents, photographs and film footage to educate visitors about all aspects of WWII. The expansion, which will quadruple the museum’s space, will be completed by 2015. www.nationalww2museum.org
HEARTS Veterans Museum
The HEARTS Veterans Museum in Huntsville, Texas, appropriately celebrated its grand opening on Veteran’s Days last week. Exhibits honor soldiers, military conflicts and home-front war efforts, featuring artifacts and memorabilia from military events from World War I to the current war in Afghanistan. Each branch of the military has its own exhibit. HEARTS stands for Helping Every American Remember Through Serving. www.heartsmuseum.com
Andy Griffith Museum
Fans of Mayberry, R.F.D. or Matlock can get a closer look at the life of the shows’ star at the Andy Griffith Museum, which found a permanent home this fall alongside the Old-Time Music Heritage Hall in Mount Airy, N.C., Griffith’s home town. The museum’s ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in September during the town’s annual Mayberry Days celebration. The collection features items from Griffith’s life and television shows, as well as related memorabilia, donated by Griffith’s family, friends and colleagues. www.visit.mayberry.com
The Toy Museum of New York
Reminisce over vintage teddy bears, Raggedy Ann and other dolls, as well as Lincoln Logs (one of my favorite childhood toys) and Legos at The Toy Museum of New York (formerly known as The Doll and Toy Museum of NYC), which debuted in its new space in Brooklyn Heights last week. Occupying a second-floor space at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, the collection, first put together in 1999 by the museum’s founder, Marlene Hockman, an author of doll books, includes more than 500 toys, dating to the 1870s. www.toymuseumny.org
Looking Ahead: International Civil Rights Center and Museum
The historic downtown Woolworth’s building in Greensboro, N.C., will house the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which is scheduled to open in time for the 50th anniversary on February 1 of the sit-ins that became a significant part of the Civil Rights Movement—when four N.C. A&T freshmen asked for a cup of coffee at what was then Woolworth’s whites-only luncheon counter. www.sitinmovement.org
