Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

A pretty small art museum but lots of great pieces of work. The staff are super friendly when I was there and loved to chat about the pieces. Most of the work is located in the basement but they did have a few larger pieces on the first floor. K-​Zoo is not the largest town in the MI but it is awesome they have a place to showcase the artists.
While I was there they even had an exhibit with local artists doing there own spin off of other well known artists. Sort of like looking at the local artists perspective on someone else’s art. Very meta!
Check out the large blown glass piece hanging in the front entrance. Expect to spend and hour to hour and half seeing the exhibit,.

Came here with my mom a few weeks ago to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. Neat museum, but for some reason I had a difficult time finding my way around.
It’s on the smaller side, but given the size of Kalamazoo, its a nice place. Mom and I spent about a hour or so browsing through the exhibits.
Their main/​permanent exhibits are nice.
Prices are reasonable. I have a membership to art museums throughout MI, so my admittance was free and only had to pay $ 5 for my mom. Not a bad deal!
They have a small gift shop which is very nice. I bought a couple post cards, but could have spent a lot more money on jewelry, note cards and candles…
They appear to have several nice areas to have a reception or party.
Parking is kind of a pain if you are not familiar with downtown Kalamazoo. My mom and I ended up parking at a church about a block away and since it was a Saturday we didn’t have to pay…

This museum is unique because unlike traditional art museums, this one makes the effort to involve the community and local artists. I love how their store is filled with local artwork (and local I mean within Southwest Michigan, not some artist from Ohio). They are always having events and hosting art shows for local artists of all ages. They also have a wonderful art school if you want to take classes.

Richmond Center at WMU for contemporary, modern, and conceptual art. KIA for more established, modern, traditional, craft art. If you are in Kalamazoo, you have a half day to see art, this is my choice. Both are small admission free museums /​schools.
I just went for an open house, they had live music, free beer, free sandwiches sponsored by Panera Bread. I never seen soooooo many people in Kalamazoo, it was packed (500 people?) and it was fun.
It is fantastic to know we live in town do appreciate and support art.
(how many museum you know that do not charge admission?)
Drive by to check to see the million-​dollar Dale Chihuly’s colorful chandelier at front foyer in night!