A Day at the Museum

The Ogunquit Museum in Maine.

East Coast Gems for Art Lovers

A chocolate croissant, a walk through the park, a visit to the museum. If your ideal day looks anything like mine it involves baked goods and art. I feel most loved by my family on the days they accompany me to museums near and far. It’s a given that if we’re visiting a city, we’re also visiting its art museum(s). So much beauty, humanity, history and creativity in one place—a good museum day gets my heart racing.

And while I love a big sprawling collection (the Kunst Museum in Zurich was a particular highlight from my travels this year), I adore a small museum. Accessible, intimate, thoughtfully curated. Here are a few of my favorites on the East Coast. Send me yours!

The Brandywine Museum of Art. Come for the Wyeth family’s prolific work and stay for the Grandma Moses, the annual model train exhibit and of course the neighboring river. With a very manageable three floors you can pair it with a hike or picnic along the river. Everybody wins.

The Wharton Esherick Museum. Stepping inside a preserved artist home/studio is exhilarating, especially when they’ve built the whole damn thing themselves. This one brims with magic, whimsy (carved monkeys dangle from the ceiling) and a delightful disregard for straight lines.

The Ogunquit Museum Of American Art. Art on the water, need I say more? This charming museum on Maine’s rocky coasts has it’s own cove. The outdoor sculpture garden overlooking the sea is the perfect place to meander between lobster rolls.

Manitoga. This wonderfully imagined compound in upstate New York was home to designer Russell Wright and family. Constructed around a quarry turned watering hole and built into the surrounding forest, it’s a nature-lover’s dream. Don’t miss the sliding doors dotted with real butterflies, pressed between layers of plexiglass.