I'm interested in small museums (preferably fine arts museums, or a really great industrial museum/factory tour) within a 2 hour or so radius from NYC. I'm thinking of places like the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey, or the Neuberger Museum on the campus of SUNY purchase in Westchester, places that are lesser know than the big city museums, but still have a gem or 2 worth making a nice day trip for. I think I've hit most of the well known ones (Yale and Princeton museums, Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, etc) but I know that there must be others out there!

The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan, is a small museum located in the far notrhern end of Manhattan. In a beautiful setting the museum exhibits medieval art and architecture. It is a 45 minute subway ride from midtown.

I strongly recommend the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT (just south of Hartford). You walk through the 14-rooms of the museum, viewing masterpieces by Monet, Manet, Degas, Whistler and Cassatt and feel like you are in someone's home viewing the owner's collection!

Thanks, Howard--that's exactly the kind of place I'm looking for (and hadn't heard of).
rqf, Thanks also. I'm a native New Yorker and I agree that it is one of NYCs gems

Vassar College has what might better be described as a large gallery rather than a museum but it sometimes has exceptional work on display, particularly in the realm of drawing and printmaking. They also di at one time have an incredible collection of jade objects and artifacts that had been bequeathed to them by an alum - it had its own little display area. The art gallery has expanded significantly since I was last there many years ago - the new addition is by some well known architect whose name escapes me at the moment but it looks interesting. I wouldn't drive all the way there from NYC to see it but if in the area it's worth a visit. Also, the campus is strikingly beautiful, particularly in the fall and spring.

Art,
We really loved the Hill-Stead. It's really a unique experience. You really feel like you're in someone's home....say, some wealthy friends who owns one of Monet's haystacks, etc. You can almost walk up and touch them. (We didn't!) The home has other objects of art and there is a garden on the property.
The museum is a short distance off Exit 39 on Route 84. (Let me know if youw want directions.) It's open every day but Monday, 10-5, May thru October; 11-4, November thru April.

Have you been to the Frick or the Whitney right in Manhattan? The SUNY Purchase idea is great; don't forget the sculpture garden at PepsiC
o while you're there!

There's the Katonah Museum of Art, smallish but with an outdoor sculpture garden and a program for children. Also in Katonah you can go to concerts at Caramoor during the summer. Being an outdoor sculpture kinda gal, I've got to mention Storm King, Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum (closed for renovations), but I assume you already know about these. And now I want to go to Hill-Stead and the PepsiCo sculptures in Purchase! Thanks everyone.

I'll also strongly mendorse Storm King in the Hudson Valley and its Caldor sculptures. The best time to go there is in the fall, when you can also catch the foliage. Truly, a beautiful experience.

How about the Newark Museum and adjacent Ballentine House? WWW.NEWARKMUSEUM.ORG.

Thanks all. I think I've heard of most of the museums in NYC proper (though of course I can't claim to have visited all of them) so I'm especially interested in the out of town suggestions you've mentioned. It gives me a good excuse to get of the city, have a nice lunch, see some greenery(once it starts getting green around here, that is) and get some culture at the same time. By the way, I'm a big fan of places like the Historic Hudson Valley sites (Sleepy Hollow area and the like) and I've just recently read about Stickely Farms, in Parsippany NJ, a site for Arts and Crafts movement history

Anything in Connecticut suburbs? (Fairfield county?)

In Fairfield, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich (www.brucemuseum.org).

ttt

Gorgeous weekend expected in NYC area--any other ideas?

ttt for the summer...
Anyone?

The Newark Museum is outstanding. It has an amazing Tibetan collection among other things. That museum helped me survive 3 years in Newark when I was in law school. It was just a block from the school and I often went there at lunch time--saw every special exhibit, ate lunch on benches in the museums beautiful back garden, and popped into the world of Tibet when I really needed to escape. If it were not in Newark it would probably be a world-famous tourist attraction.

The New Britian Museum of American Art is wonderful, and probably not far from the Hill-Stead.

Arranged by period, from Copley to Warhol and beyond. There's a Thomas Hart Benton room which includes an interactive component. I learned that Jackson Pollock modeled for one of the figures while he studied with Bention.

If you're there on the First Friday of the month, there's wine and jazz, too. There's a huge arts and crafts fair in mid-September, and a Childe Hassam show coming up. Truly one of New England's gems.

www.nbmaa.org