The Ultimate Guide to Museums in Charlotte
Discover art, history, science, racing and nature at the Queen City’s award-winning museums.
by Jen McGivney
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To you, fine art may be a painting by Pablo Picasso or Edgar Degas. Maybe it’s the architecture of a historic home or a walk-through pavilion surrounded by butterflies. Or perhaps your idea of art is a ’67 Corvette. Charlotte has dozens of museums celebrating beauty of all kinds. Find a few that offer your favorite art and enjoy an outing of inspiration and education.
Art
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
Neighborhood: Uptown
You’ve seen the “Firebird” sculpture out front. Step inside to discover more. Explore the work of masters of modern art, including Picasso, Miró, Calder and Degas. The building is a stunning work of art itself—only the second in the country designed by postmodern Swiss architect Mario Botta.
Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
Neighborhood: Uptown
The artwork here is more than painting and photography. It’s film, theater, dance, literature, lectures and discussions. All of it celebrates the contributions of African-Americans and Africans who have influenced American culture.
McColl Center for Art + Innovation
Neighborhood: Uptown
Housed in a restored neo-Gothic church, this museum not only introduces you to new art, but also the artists themselves. Resident artists frequently open their studios to the public, offering a glimpse into the artistic process.
Mint Museum Randolph
Neighborhood: Eastover
In 1936, this became North Carolina’s first art museum. Today the museum offers a wide variety of art, from ancient American art to European decorative arts, housed in a former U.S. Mint building in a beautiful Eastover setting.
Mint Museum Uptown
Neighborhood: Uptown
Craft and design, including glass, wood art and jewelry, and contemporary art, from paintings to sculptures to video, shine at this beautiful museum. The Mint Museum is close enough to other Uptown arts venues to create a day of cultural exploration.
Purchase the $20 Levine Center for the Arts Access Ticket, which allows you to experience both Mint Museum locations, along with the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and Harvey B. Gantt Center African-American Arts + Culture, for 48 hours.
Sonia and Isaac Luski Gallery at the Foundation for the Carolinas
Neighborhood: Uptown
This free gallery located on the first floor of the Foundation for the Carolinas, on Tryon Street, features art pieces from the personal collection of Isaac and the late Sonia Luski, two of the city’s top philanthropists and art connoisseurs.
VAPA Center
Neighborhood: Uptown
The Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Center provides an affordable space for artists of all mediums and disciplines to create. The center features galleries, studios, theaters, a museum and arts school. Art lovers can visit the center for free and observe these artists in action or attend a concert or artist talk.
History
Charlotte Museum of History
Neighborhood: Plaza Midwood
In the permanent Backcountry Gallery, learn what life was like in the Charlotte region centuries ago for residents—including the Catawba Nation, European immigrants and African Americans—through housing replicas, artifacts and maps. Rotating exhibits celebrate other unique perspectives of Charlotte's history.
Gaston County Museum
Area: Dallas, N.C.
Learn about Gaston County’s history during its textile years through exhibits that include 19th-century hotel rooms, North Carolina's largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles and—most impressively—one of Thomas Edison’s original electric generators.
Levine Museum of the New South
Neighborhood: Uptown
This museum not only explores Charlotte’s history, but also shows the intersection of past, present and future. Exhibits and events present an inclusive and thorough examination of the people and events in Charlotte from the end of the Civil War to today.
Matthews Heritage Museum
Area: Matthews
This modest museum in downtown Matthews offers a glimpse into life there during its mill days. The museum itself is an artifact—the restored Massey-Clark House, built in 1879, is one of the oldest in town.
Museum of the Alphabet
Area: Waxhaw
Learn about the evolution of language through the history of alphabets—including cuneiform, Native American alphabets, braille and even music—in this free museum, created by a Christian nonprofit dedicated to Bible translation.
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame
Area: Kannapolis
Listen, watch and learn about great musical performers and composers with North Carolina roots, like The Avett Brothers, Charlie Daniels, Shirley Caesar and James Taylor.
Family-Friendly
Discovery Place Kids
Area: Huntersville
To kids, it’s all about play—race cars, experiments, art projects. But adults know that kids are learning valuable lessons in science, health and creativity while they’re having fun.
Discovery Place Nature
Neighborhood: Myers Park
Budding naturalists can take kid-friendly hikes, walk in a butterfly pavilion, build forts and maybe even pet a snake in this nature museum adjacent to Freedom Park.
Discovery Place Science
Neighborhood: Uptown
Explore Charlotte’s only indoor rainforest. Try a 3D printer. Get up close and personal with a variety of biodiversity, including horseshoe crabs. This hands-on museum makes science come alive for guests of all ages, including adults.
Museum of Illusions
Neighborhood: Uptown
Things aren't always as they appear to be at the Museum of Illusions. This unique attraction features more than 60 interactive exhibits with mind-bending optical illusions and unbelievable installations based on art, math, and science.
Living History
Historic Brattonsville
Area: York County, S.C.
This 800-acre historic site preserves the history of the people and places, including a Revolutionary War battlefield, of the Brattonsville community during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Historic Rosedale
Neighborhood: NoDa
When it was built in 1815 as the home of Archibald Frew, this yellow-trimmed home was so extravagant it was known as “Frew’s Folly.” Now historic Rosedale house and its gardens are open to the public for tours.
Historic Rural Hill
Area: Huntersville
This 265-acre historic farmland and nature preserve was home to six generations of the Davidson family. The grounds feature eight Colonial-era structures that are used to celebrate the land's more than 250 years of history through events and educational programming.
President James K. Polk State Historic Site
Area: Pineville
James K. Polk was the 11th president of the United States and the only chief-of-state born in Mecklenburg County. Visit his birthplace and learn about his childhood and political career through exhibits and tours of the historic cabins on these grounds.
Reed Gold Mine
Area: Midland, N.C.
The first gold discovered in the U.S. was found here in Midland, just outside of Charlotte. Almost 200 years later, people continue to come here to learn about the history of mining and even pan for gold themselves.
The Museum of York County
Area: Rock Hill, S.C.
This heritage museum compares the natural history of the region from 600 years ago to the area’s current landscape. A naturalist center, planetarium, Tot Town learning space and an outdoor nature trail provide experiences that celebrate the natural and cultural history of the Carolina Piedmont region and beyond.
Welcome Home Veterans Living Military Museum
Area: Mooresville
Since 1995, Richard’s Coffee Shop in Mooresville has been building a museum dedicated to honoring veterans, as well as active duty and emergency services personnel. The museum continues to grow as veterans who visit share personal stories and artifacts.
Motorsports
Memory Lane Museum
Area: Mooresville
The story of racing, from its early beginnings in moonshine running, is on display at Memory Lane Museum. With over 100 cars, including some driven by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, the museum boasts the largest collection of privately owned NASCAR and vintage racing cars in the world.
Morrison Motor Car Museum
Area: Concord
Whether your idea of a classic car is a 1922 Model T, a ’67 Corvette or the ’04 Monte Carlo driven by Will Ferrell in “Talladega Nights,” this car museum near Charlotte Motor Speedway will have something that catches your eye.
The Mustang Owner’s Museum
Area: Concord
With its grand opening in spring 2019, this museum honors all things Mustang: the history, the racing and the specialty builds. Exhibits rotate regularly, bringing new displays to the museum show room.
NASCAR Hall of Fame
Neighborhood: Uptown
A must for NASCAR fans, this large Uptown museum offers an in-depth look at the sport through entertainment and education, including hands-on exhibits, a theater, historic cars and racing simulators.
North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame
Area: Mooresville
The NCARHOF is part museum that teaches the history of racing in North Carolina and part gallery that showcases the beauty of history-making cars. Exhibits celebrate all types of racing, from drag to stock car, as well as some of the most influential racers, in NASCAR and motorsports, in the state.
Nature
Quest at Latta Nature Preserve
Area: Huntersville
Begin inside Quest’s 13,000-square-foot center to learn about the region’s plants and animals. Then venture outside to the butterfly gardens, Carolina Raptor Center and nature preserve trails to interact with the environment firsthand.
Schiele Museum of Natural History & Planetarium
Area: Gastonia, N.C.
Learn about natural history through exhibits on wildlife and habitats, gaze up at the stars in a planetarium, and explore the outdoors on trails. This museum also features a wildlife garden and Stone Age heritage site.
Updates made by Arielle Patterson in February 2023.
