The American Visionary Art Museum - Baltimore

In my opinion, there are a lot of sincere museums in the world, though some moreso than others. A few are downright insincere because they are snooty or pretentious or expensive or display bad art - though I realize that last category is subjective. The American Visionary Museum in Baltimore, MD is none of those things and succeeds in being sincere for a whole host of reasons. Let's start with the art. What makes it "visionary?" Well here's a definition from their mission statement:
"Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself"
 When we visited there about a year ago, I kind of saw it as the OCD museum because so much of the artwork was made up of teeny tiny things like matchsticks or buttons - things that you'd kind of have to be OCD to have the patience to deal with. However, all of it is really, really cool. Everything is interesting or beautiful or fascinating. There are also lots of amazing interactive things. You can go there with a kid or not - all ages will appreciate it. The staff is really nice and informative and though it's not cheap, it's not the most expensive museum I've been to and it's free on Martin Luther King Day - you gotta love that. Located in historic downtown Baltimore, it's a fantastic experience overall, including the gift shop, which is awash in little interesting, wonderful things, all very inexpensive.  

Evaluation: Extraordinarily sincere!

 
www.avam.org