6 Best Sights in Sturbridge and The Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts

If you have kids in tow—or if you just love children's book illustrations—"the Carle" is a must-see. This light-filled museum celebrates and preserves not only the works of renowned children's book author Eric Carle, who penned The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but also original picture-book art by Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Allsburg, and many others. Puppet shows and storytelling events are among the museum's ongoing programs. Children are invited to create their own works of art in the studio or read classics or discover new authors in the library.

Opened in 2017, this museum offers a look into the Springfield childhood of Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) with a wide range of interactive exhibits and wall drawings, all among rooms so colorful that the museum is like walking into a Dr. Seuss book. Part art gallery, part hands-on children's museum, the second floor re-creates Geisel’s studio and living room (with the furniture and art materials he actually used); you'll see never before publicly displayed artwork.

The museum houses a fascinating private art collection that includes a salon gallery with 19th-century American paintings by Frederic Church and Albert Bierstadt, as well as a Japanese antiquities room filled with armor, textiles, porcelain, and carved jade. Lovers of architecture will appreciate the Italian palazzo-style building, built in 1896, with fully restored original Tiffany stained glass windows—the windows are rare examples of Tiffany work commissioned for a museum building.

This small gem of a museum houses a comprehensive collection of American, Asian, and European paintings, prints, watercolors, and sculpture. The Currier & Ives (active 1834–1907) Collection is the largest holdings of lithographs in the nation.

The 24,000 works in the college's collection include Asian, European, and American paintings, as well as sculpture and contemporary art from around the world. The coins and numismatics exhibit is definitely worth a look. 

A floor of galleries with natural light, an enclosed courtyard, and artist-designed restrooms and benches make up this museum, whose permanent collection's highlights include pivotal paintings by Mary Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Georgia O'Keeffe, Auguste Rodin, and Georges Seurat. More recent acquisitions include African, Asian, and Islamic art.