Southwest USA Museums and Culture

The mission of the museum is to educate the people of New Mexico and visitors from around the world in the history, science, and technology of space. The museum stresses the significant role that the state of New Mexico has played in the development of the U.S. Space Program through collecting, preserving, and interpreting significant artifacts relevant to the history of space.

The long-term goal of the MSB Division of Fishes is to maintain, in perpetuity, the collection of fishes and supporting documents by using sound curatorial techniques and archiving the collections in optimal storage conditions. We strive to ensure that these collections will be available to future generations of ichthyologists and members of the scientific community.

One of the world's largest (over 200) privately owned collection of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines in their original working condition. (You can play them!)

Founded in 1989, the Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the acquisition, restoration, safe operation and display of historical aircraft and provides an educational venue for students and the community. We also intend to honor those heroic aviators who have contributed so much to the growth and defense of our way of life.

Feast your eyes on some of the rarest and most beautiful cars ever created at the San Diego Automotive Museum.

Walking through these galleries feels different in winter—the natural light filtering through the building takes on that crisp, clear quality that San Francisco's cold months bring, making the contemporary pieces hit differently. The museum has been shaping how art institutions think about connecting with visitors through digital channels for nearly a decade, constantly reworking its approach to welcome people from all backgrounds into the conversation. Each redesign reflects a deeper commitment to figuring out what a modern art space actually means today, using online platforms to invite reflection on the institution itself rather than just showcasing what hangs on the walls.

Two floors and over 10,000 square feet filled with the strange, the unusual, and the unbelievable! See in person the incredible "Believe It or Nots" you've read about in the Ripley books and cartoons and seen on television.

The San Diego Chinese Historical Museum is a nonprofit organization. The museum was founded in 1996, by the San Diego Chinese Historical Society under the leadership of its first three presidents: Sally Wong, Tom Hom, and Dr. Alexander Chuang. Charles Tyson donated the museum's current building, originally a Chinese mission located at 645 First Avenue, and in 1991, the City of San Diego graciously provided a piece of land in the original Chinatown area where the museum now resides. <br> Since opening in 1996, the museum has presented more than 47 exhibits highlighting the rich tradition of Chinese culture and history in San Diego and the world. The Museum also features a library of books on Chinese culture and a tranquil garden with koi pond.

Walking through these galleries during the quieter winter months, you'll find yourself stepping into stories that demand your attention and reflection. The Museum of Tolerance pulls you into conversations about humanity's past and present through hands-on installations, compelling artwork, and speaker series that cut straight to the point. Whether you're exploring solo on a crisp afternoon or bringing a group, the thoughtfully designed programs—tailored for everyone from students to seasoned learners—spark real conversations about the prejudices still woven into our communities. It's the kind of place that stays with you long after you leave, nudging visitors toward deeper understanding and action.

Discover California Indian history, art, and culture told through Native voices at this remarkable community museum. Explore vibrant exhibits celebrating the resilience and ongoing renaissance of California Indian traditions, while supporting Native professionals gaining hands-on experience in museum work and cultural interpretation. Founded by the National Indian Justice Center, this institution stands as a powerful testament to Indian sovereignty and cultural pride.

In October of 1999, a group of puppeteers, producers, business professionals and lovers of puppetry came together to form a steering committee. The goal was to create a non-profit center in Southern California that promotes and preserves puppetry arts. While there are other such centers in in America's heartland of entertainment, there is no place dedicated to honor and celebrate this magical art.

The San Diego Natural History Museum traces its roots to an enthusiastic group of amateur naturalists, who formed the San Diego Society of Natural History in 1874. <br> The San Diego Natural History Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, which certifies that this museum continues to demonstrate a professional level of operation in accordance with the standards of excellence prescribed by the AAM.

The Aerospace Museum of California Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that was formerly known as the McClellan Aviation Museum. The Museum has been in existence since 1982. The name was changed in 2005 to reflect the new vision focused on education and to reflect the full heritage of aviation and aerospace in the Sacramento region.

Dive into the rebellious heart of the Beat Generation at this vibrant cultural hub in North Beach. Browse an ever-growing collection of rare photographs, handwritten letters, and first-edition classics from Kerouac, Ginsberg, and beyond—each piece tells the story of a literary movement that changed America. The museum's collection keeps expanding thanks to passionate locals and visitors who contribute their own Beat treasures.

Location & Parking<br> The main buildings at LACMA (also known as LACMA East) are located in the Miracle Mile area between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue, on Wilshire Boulevard, just east of Ogden Drive. LACMA West is two blocks west, at the northeast corner of Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

Zeum is a non-profit multimedia and technology museum with a mission to provide multimedia tools for families of all communities to think and act creatively. By providing hands-on experiences in four core creative processes (animation, sound and video production, live performance and visual arts), we encourage youth to share their stories, build their voices, and use multimedia tools for creative self-expression.

Helicopters, tanks, guns now silenced, and vacant bunkers welcome you to the U.S. Army Museum of Hawai'i. Once a bastion built to protect Hawai'i from invading forces, the structure now houses a Museum that tells the military story of Hawai'i, from ancient times to the Gulf War and the War in Iraq. Each of these hostilities is covered graphically in separate displays with photographs and sound effect creating a real "you were there" experience.

Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in honor of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family. The Museum was established to house the extensive collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms of the Princess, and has expanded to include millions of artifacts, documents and photographs about Hawai‘i and other Pacific island cultures. <br> Today, Bishop Museum is the largest museum in the state and the premier natural and cultural history institution in the Pacific, recognized throughout the world for its cultural collections, research projects, consulting services and public educational programs. It also has one of the largest natural history specimen collections in the world. Serving and representing the interests of Native Hawaiians is a primary purpose of the Museum.

The goal of the Pacific Tsunami Museum is to promote public tsunami education for the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Region. The museum will also preserve the social and cultural history of Hawaii and promote economic development on the island of Hawaii as well as statewide. The museum will serve as a living memorial to those who lost their lives in past tsunami events.

Located next to Hawaii's largest working sugar factory in the historic plantation town of Puunene, Maui, the award-winning Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum is a marvelous repository of information and exhibits about one of the most significant and influential periods in Maui's history. Dedicated to preserving and presenting the history and heritage of Maui's sugar industry, the 1,800-square-foot Museum not only charts the establishment and growth of the industry, but looks at sugar's influence on the development of Maui's water resources and rich multi-ethnic make-up, and features intriguing displays on the inner workings of a sugar mill.

The Pacific Aviation Museum is located on Ford Island (a secured military base) in the middle of Pearl Harbor. To visit the museum, obtain a ticket online, from any of our partner Travel Desks in Waikiki, or at the Bowfin Submarine Memorial by the USS Arizona, where parking is also available. For security reasons no bags are allowed on the bus. There is a Bag Storage facility, $3 per bag, located at the Bowfin Submarine Park where you board the shuttle bus to Ford Island.

USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park's mission is to restore and preserve the World War II submarine USS Bowfin (SS-287), and submarine-related artifacts on our grounds and in the Museum. Bowfin Park's parent organization, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association (PFSMA), is a non-profit group that receives no state or federal funding.

Step back into the 1800s at this restored homestead, where David and Sarah Lyman settled as missionaries in 1839. Their descendants opened the museum nearly a century later, transforming the property into a window onto 19th-century life. The original Mission House now sits on both State and National historic registers, accessible through guided tours that reveal period details and furnishings—particularly atmospheric on cooler winter days when the rooms feel lived-in and intimate. Next door, the museum building itself showcases an impressive array of Hawaiian artifacts, artwork, and specimens spanning natural history. You'll find rotating exhibitions, a research archive, and a thoughtfully curated shop alongside the permanent collections. Walking both buildings gives visitors an uncommonly layered perspective: how people actually inhabited these islands generations ago, what's unfolding in Hawaiian culture right now, and where the islands are headed. It's the kind of experience that stays with you long after you leave.

A small, community-run museum located on the beautiful Hamakua Heritage Coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i. Honoring the colorful history of the Hilo Railroad, which began in 1899 and lasted to 1946, when railroad tracks and facilities were irreparably damaged by a devastating tidal wave. The museum is located in an old railway company home, which is furnished as it would have been in the 1930s.

The Mission Houses Museum, a National Historic Landmark, is the primary program of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society, a non-profit educational institution and genealogical society. The Museum interprets the "missionary period" of Hawaiian history, 1820-1863, which is fundamental to an understanding of contemporary Hawaii.

Pima Air & Space Museum, where history takes flight, is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, and the largest non-government funded aviation museum. You'll see more than 275 aircraft and spacecraft including many of the most historically significant and technically advanced craft ever produced, both from the United States and throughout the world.

Walk through galleries where contemporary pieces sit alongside centuries-old works, each one inviting you to slow down and think differently about what you're seeing. The museum's approach weaves art directly into everyday life, creating spaces that spark conversation and new ways of understanding our shared culture. Winter visitors find a particularly welcoming atmosphere here—the cool season draws a steady crowd without the summer heat, making it comfortable to linger over installations and explore the historic block's architectural character at a leisurely pace.

At Arizona State Museum you experience the vibrant indigenous cultures of Arizona and northern Mexico through exhibitions, educational programs, a research library, and a museum store. The museum’s scholars and extensive collections are among the most significant resources in the world for the study of Southwest peoples.

Dig into 570 million years of Earth's history with real fossils, interactive exhibits, and expert paleontologists who bring prehistoric life to life in just 10 minutes. Kids can unearth genuine fossils, gems, minerals, and even gold in the Dig Pit and Fossil Sluice, keeping their discoveries as souvenirs. Browse one of America's largest dinosaur gift shops, then head home with both treasures and newfound knowledge about science, history, and the natural world.

A world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and more. Within the Museum grounds, you will see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.

The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is an academic unit of the Graduate School at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a mission to contribute to knowledge of the natural world and the humanities through research, teaching, and public education. The Museum's collections number more than four million objects in anthropology/archaeology, botany, entomology, paleontology, and zoology. <br> The University of Colorado Museum offers a wide variety of K-12 and adult educational programs and activities throughout the year, including lectures, family days, and guided tours. The exhibition galleries are open to the public seven days a week, free of charge. The Museum and Field Studies Graduate Program offers students an opportunity to earn a Master of Science degree or a certificate in Museum Studies.

The Museum is located just east of Golden, Colorado, at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains. Display tracks, complete with rare three-way stub switches and century-old switch stands, hold many historic narrow and standard gauge locomotives and cars. The Museum building, based in exterior design on standard station construction of the 1880s, houses the largest known collection of historic records, mementos, artifacts, and pictures of Colorado railroads.

As more and more historic properties were demolished in the 1960s, a group of preservation-minded Denver citizens joined efforts in 1970 to rescue the home of Titanic survivor Margaret Tobin Brown. The group incorporated as Historic Denver, Inc. and began major restoration efforts in order to return the home’s interior and exterior to its early 20th century grandeur. Since opening the Museum, Historic Denver has worked to save countless other Denver landmarks and increase public awareness of Denver’s unique historic structures.

Explore the wonders of aviation and space exploration inside this expansive former aircraft hangar, where you'll encounter vintage cockpits, historic spacecraft, and interactive exhibits that bring decades of aerospace innovation to life. Perfect for families and aviation buffs alike, Wings Over The Rockies offers a hands-on journey through the machines and stories that shaped human flight. Spend a cool afternoon indoors discovering the engineering marvels and daring achievements that continue to inspire dreamers of all ages.

The Forney Transportation Museum is a one-of-a-kind collection of over 500 exhibits relating to historical transportation. It began with antique cars, but soon expanded to include vehicles of all kinds. Some of these are familiar, while others spark the imagination.

The mission of the Denver Firefighters Museum is to preserve the history of the Denver Fire Department and firefighting through the collection and preservation of artifacts, documents and photographs. The purpose of the Museum is to educate the public about fire safety and the history of firefighting in Denver from its inception to the present. This is accomplished through interpretive exhibits, educational programming and scholarly research.

Kirkland Museum has a nationally important display of 20th-century decorative arts, with more than 3,300 works on view of Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Glasgow Style, Wiener Werkstätte, De Stijl, Bauhaus, Art Deco, Modern and Pop Art.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is the Rocky Mountain region’s leading resource for informal science education.<br /> A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help Museum visitors experience the natural wonders of Colorado, Earth, and the universe.

Howdy! Welcome to the Black American West Museum! Founded in 1971 by Paul W. Stewart, the Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving and disseminating the contributions of Blacks in the Old West. <br> While famous for telling the story of Black cowboys, we are broader than this with interests in the stories of all those early Blacks who came west and performed as miners, soldiers, homesteaders, ranchers, blacksmiths, schoolteachers, lawmen, and every other profession needed to build up the West. In fact, the Museum itself is in the home of Dr. Justina Ford, Colorado's first Black woman doctor!

The Children's Museum of Denver is all about children and their grownups learning through play. Everything is hands-on, educational and made especially for kids. With 11 interactive exhibits, year-round events, and daily programming, there is always something fun and exciting to do.

The mission of the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys is to provide educational and cultural services to the greater Rocky Mountain region through the preservation, exhibition, collection and interpretation of the visual arts using miniatures, dolls and toys.

As northern Nevada continues to grow, the region's cultural and educational offerings must also expand in order to keep young minds thriving. The Nevada Discovery Museum is designed not just to meet this need, but to raise the bar for fun, family-based learning throughout our community. The museum also aims to provoke new aspirations and collaborations among children, parents and educators. The Nevada Discovery Museum is a place of open eyes, open minds and open horizons. A place where tomorrow's dreams win their wings. <br> Located in the former Reno City Hall, the Nevada Discovery Museum will be one of the centerpieces of Reno’s downtown renaissance.

A trip to the Sparks Heritage Museum is a fun filled learning adventure, focused on the culture and history of Sparks and the Truckee Meadows. Designed with the entire family in mind, several interactive and lifelike displays compliment the collections. The diverse artifacts range from arrowheads, quilts, and antique furniture to agricultural implements, mining tools, railroad items, and casino paraphernalia. Over 3,000 vintage photographs are currently digitized. Photographic copies are available for purchase. The research library contains collections of family memoirs, oral histories and local area reference materials.

The mission of the National Automotive Museum is to collect and preserve the automobile for future generations, with an emphasis on items collected by William "Bill" Fisk Harrah, to tell the story of the impact of the automobile on American society, and to perpetuate the legacy of Mr. Hannah as a renowned collector.