Yes, the Orlando area has numerous museums and galleries. We also host several high-profile outdoor art shows.
Just 20 minutes from downtown Orlando, Winter Park is one of Central Florida’s most refined communities — and they have the museums to prove it. For starters, you will find the world’s largest collection of work by famed American designer Louis Comfort Tiffany at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.
Also in Winter Park, Rollins Museum of Art boasts more than 5,700 works that range from an ancient sarcophagus to the latest in 21st century art, and admission is always free. Nearby, the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens preserves the works of its namesake.
Just north of Winter Park in Maitland, the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center teaches about the past while focusing on the future, and Art & History Museums — Maitland has so much to offer that it cannot be contained by one building. To the west, the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation operates three museums in its namesake city, including The Heritage Museum, the History Research & Education Center, and the Central Florida Railroad Museum.
In historic Eatonville, just 15 minutes west of Winter Park, explore the works of celebrated author Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God) and artists of African descent at the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum, aka The Hurston. There is no set admission fee, but donations are encouraged. Eatonville also hosts the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, aka ZORA!® Festival Season, a months-long celebration with several events that are free to attend. It kicks off in January.
Black history can be further explored in downtown Orlando’s Parramore District at the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture, which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Constructed in 1921 as a hotel that exclusively catered to African American guests who were barred from Florida’s then-segregated hotels, including many famous musicians, it now houses memorabilia of Orlando’s African American community, displays of the Civil Rights movement, and African art and artifacts.
For a deeper dive into the importance of African Americans to Central Florida’s history, stop by the Hannibal Square Heritage Center in Winter Park, where you can peruse a permanent collection of framed, archival pieces that capture the lives of that city’s beginnings.
Loch Haven Park near downtown Orlando’s Ivanhoe Village Main Street district is no slouch in the museum department, either, including Orlando Museum of Art and The Mennello Museum of American Art. From there, it is just a short drive to CityArts, where you can marvel at multiple art galleries under one roof. It is part of Thornton Park District, which is also home to the Orange County Regional History Center.
You can even book an overnight stay at an exceptional art collection courtesy of City District’s Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, which displays the eclectic Grand Bohemian Art Gallery in public spaces. It is part of downtown’s City District.
There are many other options beyond these, including acclaimed outdoor art shows such as the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, the Mount Dora Art Festival, the biannual Fiesta in the Park in downtown’s Lake Eola Park, and many others. Let our offerings broaden your horizons during your next visit.
