Museums to Explore From Home For Museum Week

What is more quintessentially “tourist” than visiting a museum?

With themes like art, science, history, miniature trains, wax figures, zombies, and even body parts, museums are a long-treasured place to learn about a region’s culture.

This past Monday was International Museum Day. Held annually on or around May 18 since 1977, the International Council of Museums says the day recognizes museums for being “an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”

In 2014, the idea of celebrating museums got a modern update. The week leading up to May 18 was Museum Week, a worldwide event that virtually celebrates museums by engaging people the world over on social media. Each day had a designated global theme and hashtag, including #CultureInQuarantineMW, #climateMW, and #dreamsMW.

I learned all this last night after a full day of, by chance, sharing virtual museum tours on Twitter.

As you know, we’ve all been stuck inside a while now and my original plan of productivity is falling by the wayside (it had a good run, though). So, I’ve been trying to come up with new ways to occupy myself.

Last week, we pitched a tent in the dining room. This week, I’ve been diving headfirst trying to gain a semblance of a social media following (@scaredycatmel on Twitter and @scaredycatmel on Instagram).

And that led me to this suggested hashtag on my very last post of the day: #MuseumWeek.

So, in a somewhat timely fashion, and without further ado (except to say I was disappointed to see that there’s no virtual tour of Reykjavik’s Icelandic Phallological Museum), let me present five virtual museum tours to keep you busy during these stay at home times.

Five Fun Museums to Explore from Your Couch

British Museum

This may be my favorite of the virtual tours because of its aesthetically pleasing format and relaxing soundscape. The British Museum’s The Museum of the World tour allows you to explore by region or era, giving you the details of historical artifacts that date back as far as 2 million B.C. Take a look here.

Mattress Factory

In Pittsburgh, my current home sweet home, my favorite museum is Mattress Factory (pictured above). I love being immersed in art and this museum features walk-through exhibits designed specifically for the space by artists-in-residence. Encompassing multiple buildings and featuring a permanent exhibit of Greer Lankton’s work. Walkthrough videos and hear from the artists themselves on the Mattress Factory YouTube channel.

The Guggenheim Museum

It’s been awhile since I’ve visited The Guggenheim Museum in New York City, but I remember enjoying our slow descent among the artwork in its famed spiral exhibit hall. If you’ve never been – or if your trip has been canceled due to the pandemic – you can explore it from home through an Arts & Culture Google Maps feature.

The National Women’s History Museum

At the National Women’s History Museum in Virginia, you can learn about the monumental ways women have impacted the United States. From Olympic athletes to the (until recently) overlooked black women of NASA, and from explorers to entrepreneurs, this museum has been uploading exhibits for years. Explore its exhibits here.

Langley Research Center

While not strictly a museum, Langley Research Center in Virginia is where NASA tests new vehicles and aviation technologies, conducts scientific research and otherwise creates and innovates for the betterment of space and Earth exploration. You can watch videos about the center’s goings-on here.

And Four More Museums in Case You Got Through Those Too Quickly

The Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy

Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA

Did I miss your favorite virtual tour? What’s the best museum you’ve ever visited? Comment below or join the discussion on social media!