The Springfield Museums system has five museums on site and you can access all of them with a single ticket, which manifests itself as a wristband. In order of interest, they are the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum (timed entry), Smith Art Museum, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Wood Museum of Springfield History, and the Springfield Science Museum.
The art museum is a little bit of a misnomer, it’s more a museum of cultural history. I admired a scaled down replica of Nefertiti’s Bust (which I know isn’t a faithful replica because I used to see the real one in Berlin regularly and know it should have a left eye without a pupil), sets of samurai armour, and a Greek plaster gallery.
The past er gallery was almost a sterile trip down memory lane. I saw replicas of statues I’ve seen in museums in Italy, Germany, and Greece. I remembered the names of some of them and where I first saw them. Although it was my first time in Springfield, it felt like a repeat visit to see old friends from around the world who live forever in cultural memory.
Upstairs, the American art salon connects to a Chinese vase gallery and a room of Islamic art. Not as well organized as the fine arts museum diagonally opposite the quadrangle, but interesting with its diverse choice of artifacts.
I like it. All the children were busy seeing Dr. Seuss so I got some peace and quiet.
