International Museum of Art

The International Museum of Art is simply okay. Somehow it feels grossly underfunded (although I’m sure there are grants out there they qualify for and there are many ways to raise funds) and it’s like they went the wrong direction with this museum. It does have a nice Asian, African, and Mexican art exhibit, but they are terribly small. I’d return, but I would love to see a whole lot of improvements and I think they could greatly benefit from them.
Our house decided to make a trip to the IMA during the Martin Luther King Day weekend and I would’ve expected to see more people at the Museum, but I’m not entirely sure EP knows this place really exists. We walked in to a foyer kind of area that had a lot of chairs and tables, really this would be perfect eating a sandwich made with artisan bread while sipping a nice iced coffee… alas there is no café nearby and I forgot to ask if they’d allow you to eat in that area, but if you’re making this a trip is recommend asking if you can and bringing along some eats. We were very unsure if you had to sign in, turns out you don’t (but I signed the Guest Book anyway).
There really isn’t a tour guide and we weren’t offered a tour until we climbed the stairs to what turned out to be former bedroom turned offices. From that point we got a little tour with an employee through the actual house (which I was a little sad to see they had made some renovations that kind of took away from the house… like the filling in of the fireplace and the addition of a wall so they could have the gift shop in the house). After that we were left to our own devices in the actual museum. Strangely enough, I enjoyed the 15 minute guided tour learning about the history of the house and it’s original owners the most.
There was a room for each exhibit and there were quite a few pieces donated to the museum, but there wasn’t a whole lot of literature on the exhibits or the pieces within other than the name, who created it, and who donated it. I would love to see a little pamphlet, video, sign, or audio tour that could explain each piece, history, and the importance of it or the artist. I felt like I needed to do a whole lot of Googling while I was there and when you leave a museum you should feel enlightened in some type of way (I only felt that way about the house itself).
This museum has a lot of potential and I’m sure I’ll make another trip, but I would like to see some major and some small improvements. They should also put much more emphasis on the house itself, it’s history and the original owners. It’s so Gatsby-​come-​to-​life that I know crowds would enjoy it. And because I really did like this museum I’ll give you a little fundraiser idea: throw a 1920’s inspired party.