? DIA tops the list of best art museums in USA TODAY survey

Don't get me wrong, because I love the Detroit Institute of Arts [DIA]. I visit it at least twenty-five times a year, I have been a paying member for years, and the Kresge Court is one of my favorite regular hang outs in the D. I could guide one through the DIA blindfolded.

But I have also visited other great museums here and abroad and, No. 1 in the USA? according to this Free Press/USA TODAY Article, well, uh uh. As much of a Detroit loyalist as I am that is a stretch too far. The Metropolitan in NYC, the Chicago Art Institute, even Cleveland, yes Cleveland, have to rank ahead. In most other polls Detroit ranks around No. 5, a lofty and very respectable position.

Their list of top ten museums is an eccentric list of wonderful sites, but undeserving of ranking above the mighty collections mentioned above to which should be added Washington's National Gallery, Boston, Philadelphia, even Buffalo's museums.

The top 10 best art museum list

1. Detroit Institute of Arts - Detroit
2. American Visionary Art Museum - Baltimore
3. IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts - Santa Fe, New Mexico
4. Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh
5. National Museum of Wildlife Art - Jackson, Wyoming
6. Newfields - Indianapolis
7. Booth Western Art Museum - Cartersville, Georgia
8. Heard Museum - Phoenix
9. Getty Center - Los Angeles
10. Museum of International Folk Art - Santa Fe, New Mexico

They must have a criteria that includes size or accessibility or something because most of those museums are in smaller markets, except the Getty. I know we have an incredible collection, but so do other museums.

I assume it's because Free Press voters count for an outsized portion, same as the Riverwalk vote, due to the joint Gannett ownership. Does Gannett own newspapers in other major cities that have a riverwalk or art museum?

^^^
Indianapolis has the Gannett-owned Indianapolis Star, the Newfields art museum complex, and Indy Canal Walk. Both their art museum and canal walk were in the Top 10 lists.

To Lowell's point that there are many great art museums across the country, this list of the Top 10 doesn't quite add up because there doesn't seem to be a common thread across the ten nominated museums. Was it based on market size, collection focus, user experience, nearby amenities, or other criteria? It would be far better to have the art museums broken out into several categories. That said, the travel experts who nominated these 10 museums must have strived to select 10 museums that are diverse and have collections worthy of visitors. Besides the DIA, we've visited Newfields and the Andy Warhol Museum. Both are worth a visit. We will keep the remaining 7 museums on our travel radar for future visits.

Nobody takes these lists as gospel, and there's no way to objectively make an end all be all list. Seems like a nice nod to the City that the DIA is at least considered one of the best, but I'm sure there's hundreds of other lists that don't have the DIA on top or even in the top 10 if you want someone else's perspective.

LOL... as I've stated before on this Forum... as a kid we used to go up to Higgins Lake [Roscommon County], which had signs around it listing it as the "6th most beautiful lake in the world". Well someone must have said it... or they wouldn't have posted it... :o

In the 70's, my wife and I made a trip to the the DIA. I was disappointed that because of budget constraints the floor housing the Dutch and Flemish exhibit was closed. That exhibit was what I most wanted to share with her. Not giving up, we took an elevator up to the floor those exhibits were on and the elevator door opened. Voilà! For about 15", we were the only art enthusiasts on that floor. There must have been surveillance cameras somewhere because eventually a few guards showed up, we had a little discussion with them and were escorted back to the elevator.

We've visited the two Santa Fe museums a number of times, as well as the Heard in Phoenix. They are excellent museums, but have more narrowly focused objectives and exhibits. They really shouldn't be compared to a museum like the DIA, which has a wide spectrum of art genres and mediums.

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Originally Posted by jiminnm

We've visited the two Santa Fe museums a number of times, as well as the Heard in Phoenix. They are excellent museums, but have more narrowly focused objectives and exhibits. They really shouldn't be compared to a museum like the DIA, which has a wide spectrum of art genres and mediums.

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Yes, the DIA is an "Encyclopedic" large art museum... many of those others are genre specific.

Sometimes I think that when people come to Detroit to visit its' crown jewel buildings they have such low expectations, that they are blown away by it. I hear that often from first time visitors to Detroit on how much it has to offer.

Yes the MET in NYC is excellent as is the one in Boston. I would say Detroit is way up there as well. Lots of variety. Boston naturally features a great early USA colection with founding fathers portraits, etc.