High Museum of Art Atlanta
1280 Peachtree St. N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 733-4400
www.high.org
Dates: June 11, 2016 through August 14, 2016
If your friends or children think that museums are necessarily stuffy and boring, then consider blowing their minds with a visit to the High Museum this summer to see an exhibit on “The Rise of Sneaker Culture.” You don’t have to be a shoe enthusiast to appreciate the display of 155 sneakers. The exhibit will study how athletic shoes have come to function as status symbols, particularly in urban culture. There will be shoes from private collections as well as high end artsy sneaks by Prada and Damien Hirst.
Museum of Design Atlanta
1315 Peachtree St. N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 979-6455
www.museumofdesign.org
Through June 12, 2016
Many locals overlook the Museum of Design Atlanta, or MODA, as it is a much smaller building located across the street from the Woodruff Arts complex in Midtown, but it is a truly interesting museum that merits a visit. This summer’s exhibit focuses on the World’s Fairs of the past and how design functioned in these fantastical propaganda machines. Of course, this is a particularly interesting topic in the current election year. There will be several events and discussion forums to explore the exhibition in more depth.
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
767 Clifton Road N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30307
(404) 929-6300
www.fernbankmuseum.com
Through August 14, 2016
Again, museums are anything but boring, but if your crowd needs convincing, head out to Fernbank to check out the glowing weirdness at the Creatures of Light exhibit this summer. Everyone is familiar with fireflies, but this exhibit includes discussions of all sorts of light-producing lifeforms, including eerie and unusual deep sea creatures as well as the more common lightning bugs. You’ll be surprised at the wide range of beings that produce light, and you’ll learn the variety of ways in which they give off their glow. Admission is free for museum members and included in regular museum tickets for non-members.
Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University
571 S. Kilgo Circle N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30322
(404) 727-4282
www.carlos.emory.edu
Nov. 7 – Dec. 7, 2016
Literary nerds, unite! One of the world’s most famous books is coming to Atlanta, and for one month you can check it out at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. This was the first collected edition of the Bard’s plays, released just seven years after his death. So, this probably isn’t the exhibit that will entice your youngsters to appreciate museums, but for English majors past and present, this is a major event.
Atlanta History Center
130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 814-4000
www.atlantahistorycenter.com
Through October 10, 2016
It’s always fun to take a step back in time and visit the Swan House at the Atlanta History Center, but this summer there is a special exhibit that makes it even more enticing. Atlanta has always been a fashionable town, and this exhibit focuses on the highlights of the center’s textile collection. Each room of the elegant Swan House will feature fashion from a different decade. Check out glamour and gorgeous creations from the 1920s flapper era through the freewheeling 1960s.