10 Best Places in Dallas To Check Out Art For Free

If you didn't grow up frequenting museums or galleries, navigating the art world can be extremely intimidating. Thanks to the state of arts education, most of us have a very limited knowledge of art outside of recognizing the "Mona Lisa" or that Van Gogh painting of sunflowers that hung in your mom's kitchen. Plus, there's this long-held idea that viewing and learning about art is extremely expensive.

But that isn't really true, at least not in Dallas. Sure, there are special exhibitions and traveling pieces that require you to plunk down a little coin to view, but much of the city's art is accessible entirely for free, meaning that you have no excuse to continue ignoring Dallas' flourishing arts scene. Take an afternoon to check out these eight free art exhibitions, most of which look nothing like the boring old classics you remember from your college art appreciation class. Go forth with this new knowledge, and argue with those who (wrongly) claim that Dallas is devoid of culture.

Dallas Museum of Art
Last year, the Dallas Museum of Art made general admission to their permanent collection free. The DMA's permanent collection exceeds 22,000 items, and includes an impressive selection of works by recognizable figures like Salvador Dali and Piet Mondrian. There's plenty of historical art from cultures all over the world, and an assortment of oddities to keep things interesting, like a bunch of late 1800s silver from Tiffany and Co.

The African American Museum
Contrary to much of our education, not all art is created by crazy, old white dudes. The African American Museum in Fair Park has a self-described "small but rich" collection of art created both in Africa and the United States. The museum's collection of African masks and textiles is particularly notable, along with a collection of African-American folk art with works from greats like Clementine Hunter. The museum's program of special exhibitions is particularly varied, including a current exhibition on quilting as an art form.

Goss Michael Foundation

The Goss Michael Foundation
Most of us know as much about contemporary British art as we do quantum physics, but that's why places like the Goss-Michael Foundation exist. The pieces on display here are curated by the gallery owners and staff. The permanent collection includes kickass Damien Hirst pieces, and Tracey Emin neons. Students with an interest in art can also present a school ID to browse the Goss-Michael's library and archives. Admission to the gallery is free for everyone, but if you have a few extra bucks, they're happy to take donations.

NorthPark Center
Where else can you window shop at Louis Vuitton, grab some Panda Express in the food court and walk through an extensive art collection featuring the likes of Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, and Jonathan Borofsky? C'mon, that's pretty awesome.