taubman museum of art

Budget about an hour to explore this museum. It is a bit on the smaller side (coming from a very large city) but it is well curated and fun to explore. Admission is free so there's no excuse not to visit.

We had a fun time attending the preschool class on sculpture and then spent a lot of time with a 1 year-old and 3 year-old in the children's art section. Our kids loved playing with magnetic blocks, art supplies, costumes, and musical instruments. An incredible find for our family! Do check out the Cafe -- Norah's Cafe -- one of the very best sandwiches I have ever had (pear, gouda cheese, caramelized onions, ham, and fresh foccacia). The Cafe also had an excellent children's menu.

The population of Roanoke, VA is about 100,000 so I was surprised to find an Art Museum that housed art by Thomas Hart Benton, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Norman Rockwell and many more artists. And this museum won't break your wallet because thanks to a generous donation by a local business, admission to the general gallery is free. Well worth a look if you're traveling through the area.

As many other reviewers have mentioned, this museum isn't the Met. As far as art museums in Virginia go, the VMFA in Richmond and the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk are your go-tos for classic, comprehensive fine arts collections; they are both excellent and I love them. What the Taubman lacks in collection it makes up in spirit. I guarantee that if you go there'll be some exhibit that strikes your fancy; for me and my friend last week it was seeing a fascinating display of modern tintypes with the faces of Civil War soldiers. The building is beautiful and a great addition to a great downtown. The staff is friendly and helpful, and I love the fact that it's all free. Artventure (which, unfortunately, isn't free anymore) is loads of fun for the kids, and I hope Roanokers in years to come become more aware of the incredible cultural asset this museum is for them. So come downtown, grab a bite to eat at the Market Building, and spend the afternoon at the Taubman. You won't regret it.

It is free and also promotes local artists. We are very glad to visit a museum like this one. The building is awesome and a great place to visit in summer as the town has a lot more happening.

My husband and I went her for a valentine date and were very dissappointed. The museum use to charge admission but now they do not. I told my husband I couldn't believe they charged to see the little that they had.

My husband and I planned to spend 1 to 1 1/2 hours after work on a Thursday night touring the art exhibits before going to dinner. The main gallery was closed for 8 weeks to set up a new exhibit. Here's the list of exhibits that were available: an interactive list of 'tweets' projected on a wall, one room of a local artist's black and white drawings, one room of large wall and floor murals (this was the best) one room of pornographic comic book drawings again from a local, and one room of televisions displaying 'international roles of women.' The building looks gigantic from the outside, but there's nothing on the first floor except the store and café. The staircase is beautiful, but WOW we strolled around and were still done in 20 minutes. There were more security people than visitors. Good thing is was free because I would have asked for my money back.

Total waste of time from looking for a nearby safe parking space to a waste of space in the building itself. We did not feel safe walking to the building in that part of town. The design of the building definitely does not fit in with the majestic mountain views and surrounding buildings or the friendly homey feel of Roanoke.

Enjoyed our visit. We were only in town for the weekend. We're impresses by the variety of art shown. Worth the time to stop in.

Good experience but nothing to blow away the art world. It is downtown and adjacent to trendy stores and restaurants. Done in combination it can be a fun day trip, but don't go out of your way from another area

You would think these railroad barons would have collected more art and donated to the museum. That said, the collection is interesting and the staff is super friendly. The traveling shows are what make it. Also, the kids area is awesome for young children - pre-school and elementary. Summer camps are awesome!

Decent presentation of individual artists, but limited in a general sense, such as a big name artist, two paintings. Would have liked to see more, but it's a start.In all, I saw a lot of space dedicated to auditorium and additional ticket exhibits and not enough general admission attractions.

This was a simple museum; sleek design with about 10 showrooms. There were a few varieties of art, some sculptures, and a unique assortment of art. A very well done museum and nice art for free. I did not pay for the exhibition, because it was only 2 rooms big. I am a big fan of art, but it was a stretch to even make it an hour here. It's a good place to stop in and reflect, read, or draw.

We are big fans of innovation and architecture; this museum's exterior scores well on our scale. We are also big fans of a bargain; free admission for first class and local art is hard to beat. However, we really have not found enough art to hold our interest for much more than an hour, or for more often that once a year visits.

While the building is quite large, it holds very little actual art. Once you have been there once, there is little reason to return. They should have spent the cost of the building on getting more art.