Taubman Museum of Art

A gem of an art institution. Beautiful building, inside and out. Admission is free and there’s a nice variety of exhibits on the floor. A must visit for everyone who comes through Roanoke.

Although smaller than many art museums, the Taubman is one of my favorite art museums of all time. The exterior is an obvious draw, but I also love the lobby and the stairs up to the exhibit halls.
The exhibits themselves are wonderful. I have seen an installation on the history of Roanoke done by a set designer who worked on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Fabergé eggs, Civil Rights Movement photography, an exhibit on jeweled purses that I really didn’t think I’d be half so excited about, and an absolutely brilliant exhibit on forms and contrast that I cannot hope to adequately describe. There is also a small but well-​chosen permanent collection and a little lounging area with art books to browse if you are so inclined. I am not local to the area, but I have been here often for work and always try to visit. This is a gem of a museum.

The Coolest Modern work of Architecture I have seen in person!!!
The Taubman represents something so much more than a «Box» to show Art! Designed by: Architect Randall Stout!
The Taubman is certainly a Work of Art/​Modern Architecture itself! From our visit this past weekend it reminds me of the example of the compliment Robert and Lisa Sainsbury gave Architect Norman Foster saying the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts was «The Finest thing in their collection» Meaning of their entire Art Collection they Loved the Museum itself the most… The case can be made for the Taubman, though one critic said «it looks like the wreck of the Flying Nun»… I LOVE it!
Most of the exhibitions were not what I look for in a Museum though still glad to see, this first time… I enjoyed the Outside Architecture Much more than the Interior or the Exhibitions, The Exterior is that Wonderful!
Best and most fun exhibition this time was: :
Motomichi Nakamura whose Crypto-​Animation Style was Inspiring and unique to anything I have seen… the layout of the Gallery spaces showing Paintings and Multiple Screens showing videos of the Animations was Very well done! The Upholstered «creatures» were pretty cool as well as the ones painted on the Glass Entrance of the Museum!
Inside the Museum is Smaller than it appears: Lobby, Auditorium, Gift Shop and Norah’s Café
We look forward to visiting this Museum EVERY Time we are in the Area!
Photographers and Fans of Modern Architecture can have a lot of fun shooting this Structure from almost innumerable angles! I’m looking forward to shooting it under various lighting and weather conditions… This was a DREAM Trip for me!!!

I’m not sure all of the people in Roanoke realize what an iconic and gorgeous building this is. And the museum, though modest in collection, is great.
The photo exhibit on Civil Rights was amazing. The rest of the collections were small and if you’re used to the big museums in NYC or DC, you might be disappointed, but to have a museum like this in a smaller city in rural Virginia is a benefit, especially to the kids who are exposed to it.
I hope people come to appreciate what this brings to the area.

The Taubman is now free. No admission fee, for general admission. You now have absolutely no excuse not to patronize the museum. They’re still building a collection, and trying to find new and interesting things to display, but there’s still plenty enough already there to merit a visit. Don’t let this be another case of Roanoke ignoring something until it’s gone, and then complaining that we can’t get anything cool.

Saturdays are free and well worth the visit. There is a great section in the bottom level for kids to explore and learn. Today they were working in pottery. There are also areas for puzzles, drawing, a stage with props/​costumes and fun things for kids all around.
Upstairs is the gallery. While there are a lot of open areas, the museum is still relatively new. There was a gallery with local artists, which was the best. An early American exhibit and the «showcase» exhibit at this time was Faberge. I was not impressed by glittery things, but my wife and daughter liked it.
They were preparing for a wedding reception, which was the only down fall. The staff was friendly and abundant. Seems their biggest liability each month has to be labor, but I will never complain about a business giving people jobs.
Hope to go back in a month or two.

The building is fantastic– the collection on display was disappointingly limited– for my $ 9.50 can I have more please?
Very impressively knowledgeable and friendly staff

We just attended an event at the Taubman Museum of Art that was part of the Roanoke Marginal Arts Festival. The Museum atrium with its soaring space was just the place for this intricate, audience participation piece that wended its way through every gallery. Kudos to the museum for championing not only traditional art but groundbreaking performance art and for its support of the Marginal Arts Festival. The museum is worth a visit (and has a good café to boot)

I agree with the above posts, but also want to mention they have a great children’s art program.

I would suggest the visitor view the museum first by walking around the structure and noticing the slanted roof, angular and contemporary design. I am reminded of a space ship in downtown Roanoke with Florentine paintings inside. I love the lighted walkway to the second floor galleries. The museum café serves up unique dishes on interesting design-​inspired tableware. You can’t miss this place if you visit downtown!

The Taubman Museum of Art (a/​k/​a Art Museum of Western Virginia) not only houses works of art but is itself a work of art. The striking contemporary building, which was designed by LA-​based Randall Stout Architects (RSA) and features Frank Gehry-​esque, deconstructivist architectural elements (Stout was a protégé of Gehry), opened to the public last November and combines permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, an auditorium and other educational areas, a multi-​purpose atrium area, café and gift shop.
Head-​turning does not begin to tell the story about the boldness of the structure: try screeching tires as drivers slam on their brakes to get a look. RSA describes the Taubman as «Cataclysmic Calm», an oxymoronic reference to the violent tectonic shifts that created the beauty and tranquility we associate with the collusion of clouds and sky against the peaks, valleys and streams of the surrounding Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains. These images are reinterpreted in the structure by the various stainless steel dips and curves that contrast with the sharp, angular glass shapes that, combined, comprise the building’s exterior. Inside, visitors are greeted by light-​filled open spaces, limestone floors and an illuminated glass stairway that beckons visitors to the second floor exhibit areas with blonde hardwood floors and where bold-​colored walls provide the backdrop for the artwork on display.
Because the building itself is so impressive, the museum is displaying through May a series of sketches and model renderings as well as a time-​lapse film that documents the actual construction of the project over its two and a half year span.
The permanent collection of 19^th and early 20^th century American art is found in the red and blue galleries and includes works by John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, Susan MacDowell Eakins, Winslow Homer, Maria Oakley Dewing, Robert Henri, Childe Hassam, John H. Twachtman, and others. It should be noted that the Eakins works — a bequest from the artist’s last living heir — were the impetus behind building the museum.
A current exhibit (ending March 31) is that of Devorah Sperber, a pop-​artist whose works include objects like shower curtains, spools of thread and marker caps that, when viewed up-​close, appear to be abstract but, when viewed from a distance, reveal the image. Sperber’s reworking of Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can and Marilyn Monroe are at-​once whimsical and thought-​provoking.
Speaking of whimsical, the permanent display of Judith Leiber handbags is similarly spectacular. Leiber designs haute couture handbags that look anything like handbags. Rather, these bejeweled works of art resemble ornaments. And the manner in which the exhibit is staged, it’s like walking through a jewelery box
Through June 7, an exhibit called «In Life I was Silent, In Death I Sing» combines photographs that document the stories and building processes of regional instrument makers (guitars, fiddles, double-​bass) as well as their finished products. And not just any instrument makers. Craftsman like Wayne Henderson, a guitar maker sought after by performers like Eric Clapton. The exhibit serves as a reminder that not only is music a work of art, but so are the instruments on which it is played. Check out the axe fiddle — the artist comments that a good musician should be able to coax music out of anything, even an old axe.
Due to its stunning design, the Taubman Museum has received national press coverage from publications including USA Today and Fortune. Should potential visitors require any more coaxing, there are also musical performances and an on-​site gourmet café from which to enjoy this impressive building.