Southern Gateway
Muskegon
A port city for dune hikes and beach days: state parks on both sides of town, a city beach, pier lighthouses, maritime museums and a ferry to Milwaukee.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Museum · Southern Gateway
Muskegon Museum of Art
Muskegon's art museum, founded in 1912 as the Hackley Art Gallery, with American and European paintings, studio glass and a newly doubled building.
The Muskegon Museum of Art is the indoor plan for an afternoon in downtown Muskegon, and its collection includes names you would usually travel to a big city to see.
It started in 1912 as the Hackley Art Gallery, paid for by a bequest from lumber baron Charles Hackley, whose trust for buying “pictures of the best kind” still funds acquisitions as the Hackley Picture Fund. It took its current name in 1980 after a major expansion.
The strengths are American and European paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings, plus a studio glass collection. Works on the museum’s highlight list include Edward Hopper’s New York Restaurant, John Steuart Curry’s Tornado Over Kansas, and pieces by Pissarro, Bonnard, Elizabeth Catlett and Dale Chihuly.
A $15 million expansion, finished in early 2025, doubled the museum’s size. Navigate to the Clay Avenue entrance.
Practical information
- Best months
- Year-round
- Admission
- The museum charges admission; members get in free. Check the museum's site for current details.
- Accessibility
- The museum publishes an accessibility page; check it or contact the museum with your needs before you go.
- Official website
- muskegonartmuseum.org
Location
Map of Muskegon Museum of Art
4 places on an OpenStreetMap map
Nearby towns
Also nearby
Straight-line distances, not driving distances.
Trail
Muskegon Lakeshore Trail
About 12 paved miles along Muskegon Lake from Pere Marquette Park to the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve, with views of the channel and South Pier light.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Beach
Pere Marquette Park
Muskegon's big Lake Michigan beach at the channel mouth, raked daily, with volleyball, kiteboarding, the South Breakwater Light and the Lakeshore Trail.
About 4 miles away (straight line)
State park
Muskegon State Park
Three miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake, with forested dunes, two campgrounds, a CCC blockhouse and the Muskegon luge park.
About 5 miles away (straight line)