Must Do CLE: Visit These 4 Iconic Museums

If you love the Cleveland Museum of Art, try the Akron Art Museum
Akron’s art museum is a striking downtown centerpiece, an angular cathedral of glass and steel that includes the “Crystal,” an indoor piazza open to the public. The permanent collection matches that au courant exterior, focusing entirely on modern and contemporary art, while traveling exhibitions feature boundary-pushing works from artists such as Chuck Close and Elias Sime. akronartmuseum.org

If you love the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, try the Greater Cleveland Aquarium
Budding scientists will love this distinctly Cleveland creature: an aquarium built in the upcycled shell of an old FirstEnergy powerhouse. Today, the refurbished smokestacks are cylindrical tanks for moon jellyfish, which guests can view from below before venturing further into the shark tank tunnels and touchable stingray tanks. greaterclevelandaquarium.com

If you love the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, try Spaces
Stay on modern art’s cutting edge at this Ohio City gallery, the only alternative art space in Ohio that exhibits solely newly commissioned work. A celebrated artistic incubator, Spaces’ shows extend beyond the wall to affect the community at large, such as 2018’s city-wide, New York Times-featured A Color Removed exhibition, which explored the role of color in Tamir Rice’s death. spacescle.org




If you love the Cleveland History Center, try the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens
Old souls should power their time machine to Akron’s Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, a Tudor Revival estate once owned by F. A. Seiberling, one of the co-founders of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Completed in 1915, the 70-acre grounds rival that of Vanderbilt’s Biltmore or Hearst’s San Simeon, with lush gardens, a dazzling Christmas light show and detailed tours. stanhywet.org