Austin’s live music, outdoor adventures, and barbecue often grab the headlines when visitors come to town, leaving its museums to fly under the radar. However, several worthy ones await, and much like the city itself, they have an artsy, offbeat flair.
Here are the city’s top 10 museums. Several are located conveniently on the University of Texas campus. Note that many are closed on Sundays, Mondays, and/or Tuesdays.
Blanton Museum of Art: Best for Art Overall
The Blanton houses the University of Texas’ art collection, and it’s remarkable, with approximately 21,000 works across various genres. The galleries of European paintings, prints, drawings, and modern American and Latin American art receive high praise, including dedicated rooms for Latinx and Black artists.
Moreover, Ellsworth Kelly’s luminous building installation with its vividly colored windows next door is a sight to see. Additionally, the Blanton is free on Thursdays.
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum: Best for History Lovers
This museum, devoted to the 36th US president and Texan, captivates visitors. Step up beside a lifesize photo of LBJ to experience the “Johnson Treatment”—discover what it was like when the tall and imposing president (at 6ft 3in) leaned in closely to emphasize his points.
Moreover, nearby, an animatronic LBJ shares recorded stories. Other displays detail President Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson’s role in advancing Civil Rights legislation, and how the Vietnam War influenced his presidency. Furthermore, tickets are half price on Tuesdays.
Harry Ransom Center: Best for Bibliophiles
The Ransom Center excites literary enthusiasts with an extensive collection that includes 42 million manuscripts, five million photographs, and one million rare books. Noteworthy items include the Gutenberg Bible (one of only five complete copies in the USA), Jack Kerouac’s travel journal, Albert Einstein’s unpublished notes on general relativity, and manuscripts by Gabriel García Márquez. Additionally, rare artifacts such as a 17th-century map and the first photograph ever taken (from 1826) are exhibited. Best of all, admission is free!
Thinkery: Best for Kids
Set in a box-like building, the Thinkery is designed to grab kids’ attention immediately. Hands-on exhibits allow them to explore fluid dynamics, build LED light structures, and create and launch gliders in the Spark Shop.
The outdoor play area features balancing logs, splash streams, and the impressive three-story, net-strewn Climber. Notably, admission is free on Sundays from 3 PM to 5 PM.
Mexic-Arte Museum: Best for Latin Culture
The mural-splashed Mexic-Arte Museum showcases a vast array of works by Mexican and Mexican-American artists. Its dynamic permanent collection features carved wooden masks, modern Latin American paintings, historic photographs, and contemporary art.
Moreover, temporary exhibitions change every few months and often emphasize social justice and immigrant rights. The museum is free on Sundays.
Hullock Texas State History Museum: Best for Local History
Big and glitzy, the Bullock Museum highlights Texas’s history, starting from its time as part of Mexico to the present day, featuring high-tech interactive exhibits and engaging dramatizations. The highlight is the hull of La Belle, a French ship that sank off the Gulf Coast in 1686 and altered the course of Texas history.
Other exhibits explore the Battle of the Alamo, the lives of Texas Comanches, the discovery of oil, and the vibrant local music scene. Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month.
Women & Their Work: Best for a Quick Browse
Women & Their Work has been supporting female artists for over 40 years. An airy, industrial-looking gallery set in a former furniture store, it features thought-provoking works by women artists across various mediums, including paintings, textiles, videos, and sculptures—each emphasizing feminist principles. Exhibitions change regularly.
The gallery also offers dance performances, literary readings, and art-making workshops. Admission is always free.
Museum of the Weird: Best for Fright Sights
Paying the entrance fee at the gift shop of the museum leads you into Austin’s own cabinet of curiosities. Although cozy, this space is packed with shrunken heads, unusual animals, and wax figures of Hollywood monsters such as Bigfoot and King Kong. The star attraction is the famous Minnesota IceMan, a frozen prehistoric figure displayed under a block of ice. It promises a mix of cheesy fun and oddities.
George Washington Carver Museum: Best Freebie
The Carver Museum honors Black history and culture in a compact and engaging space. Permanent exhibits highlight freedmen’s communities in Texas and the history of Juneteenth (the holiday originated in Texas), while the Children’s Gallery introduces prominent Black inventors, including the museum’s namesake, who is known for crop rotation and developing various uses for peanuts.
Additionally, the museum features two art galleries showcasing rotating exhibitions, such as the vibrant works of musician George Clinton and renowned street photographer Jamal Shabazz.
Contemporary Austin – Laguna Gloria: Best for Outdoor Art
Stunning sculptures by renowned artists dot the woodlands and gardens of Laguna Gloria, a beautiful art park on the shores of Lake Austin. Visitors can stroll through meditative pathways, listening to birds while admiring Tom Friedman’s Looking Up, a 33ft figure made from aluminum foil pans; Ai Weiwei’s Iron Tree Trunk; and many more extraordinary works. Laguna Gloria is part of the Contemporary Austin, which also manages the downtown Jones Center, Austin’s modern art museum. Admission covers both sites, and they are free on Thursdays.
