Gilcrease Museum

Can't wait for the reopening of the Gilcrease Museum. The Gilcrease is a fantastic cultural treasure that promotes diversity and community and represents various forms of the arts in an engaging manner.

The collection focus here is western art, especially 19th century. Considering 95% of the works are in storage, this museum could put on good temporary exhibitions from its own closet if only it had the room. For example, they have enough Thomas Moran paintings and drawings to fill its own gallery. Fortunately, the museum announced a multi-million dollar expansion plan last year and the new design is impressive.In the meantime, visitors must make do with some galleries that are incredibly dark and an antiquated personal photography policy that, while allowing camera use, still puts much off limits. (Hey, Gilcrease, if you want more visitors, liberalize your policies.) Luckily, the museum has a good online collection that, once you create a user account, permits you to easily download images for personal use.The depth of this robust collection includes surprises but it would all benefit from a curatorial refresh. Wandering the jumble of individual galleries and reading some labels that are missing relevant information can be frustrating.I look forward to the expansion of this museum that proudly says it 'houses the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of art and artifacts of the American West'. I don't doubt it. The visitor experience cannot but change dramatically.

I like the Gilcrease. To be honest, I'm not that much of a museum fan, but Gilcrease is compelling enough that I've visited several times. They're creative with their programming so that it's not "just historical exhibits" (no offense, history buffs) but sort of a historical *experience* that makes the visit much more enjoyable. The attached pictures, for instance, show a "Gilcrease After Hours" event which featured a local jazz group and tours of exhibits that detailed the plight of troubled groups in America's past, such as immigrants, ethnic and racial minorities, and Native Americans. It's an experience, and a good one. Plus, they have a pretty nice little restaurant (which is separate) with some evening events that sometimes feature local musical ensembles. I've been to one of those, as well, and enjoyed that, too. Gilcrease is worth a visit (or three), even though I'm no longer living in Tulsa.

I have been to the best museums in the World ... Musée du Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, l'Orangerie, British, Tate, Del Prado, Smithsonian, Vatican, Uffizi ... and I was not expecting much after looking at the Gilcrease website, but this museum turned out to be freaking awesome!If you like American art ... Remington, Whistler, Audubon, Moran, Leigh, and Homer to name just a few... you will love the Gilcrease. This is the best collection of 100% American art I have seen in recent years. The museum does not look very big, but they have an impressive collection of paintings, sculptures (18 of Remington's 22 bronzes reside here), archeological artifacts, even a large collection of bolo ties. From Native American art to Americana, there is something for everyone at the Gilcrease. In the basement you can find 5,000+ additional items (Native American dolls, arrowheads, stone tools, etc) displayed in drawers and catalogued on their computer system for easy reference. You could easily spend four or five hours here and not see everything.Well worth a visit and their admission prices are very fair (Adults - $8; 62+ and Military $6; College Students with ID $5). They even offer free tour at 2pm, please visit their webpage for complete details.CombatCritic Gives Gilcrease Museum 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... HOOAH!

Gilcrease is always a great museum but the last time I went there was for a fun outdoor event. They had a bluegrass band and for $10 you can get three beers. They had three local breweries that donated. I'm not much of a Beer Drinker but they had American Solaris sour beer which I love.I wish that I had known how popular it would be because I would have gotten all three at once. They ran out after 30 minutes. So that was kind of a bummer. But it was nice outside and the band was great! Super fun event!

Yelp has this listed as one of the top places to visit in Tulsa. I guess they missed the news. The Gilcrease Museum was TORN DOWN months ago. They are rebuilding a new facility but it will be a while.

The premiere museum for Western and Native American art, Gilcrease is a celebration of all things Western, including native peoples, cowboys, and what life was like for people living on the prairie, etc. They have a dedicated space for a traveling exhibit that is always super cool--some of my favorite collections that have come through Tulsa have come through here. Especially for people who just disregard Oklahoma as flyover country, this is an important cultural institution and a place to showcase all the complexities of the West then and now. Possibly one of the coolest parts of this museum is downstairs in their archives, where anyone can look up what they want to see and go find it in their many cases and drawers. So few museums grant this much access, whether you're just a curious visitor or you're bringing kiddos who want to learn about everything from the prehistoric animals that once roamed this land to the modern west, this is an amazing resource!

The actual museum is definitely 5 stars. They have an amazing collection of Native American art and artifacts, Thomas Moran paintings, and Remington statues among a host of other beautiful things. They have two cool kids areas where kids and touch and play. There are also several places in the museum where you can touch items on display, which the kids love. However, they had this rule about you can't carry a bag in the museum. It was our diaper bag. This is super annoying and inconvenient. I even offered to let him look through the bag. Nope, still have to leave it behind the desk. This was just not a good way to start the day. Trying to figure out how to carry bottles and such with kids when I had a nicely packed backpack... when we go back I will take a tiny bag.So go- enjoy the art and beautiful views with your tiny bag!

Every third Sunday is a free Funday!  Usually these are geared towards families with children.  They have plenty of fun age appropriate activities to go along with the exhibits.  There is a large area downstairs where you use hand held devices to look up information on an item displayed.  I like to visit every month or so to see some of the traveling exhibitions.  This was one of those visits.  The museum is clean with plenty of restrooms.  If you are a nature lover, they have a great walking path around a small pond with a gazebo outback.  In front they have a small hedge maze and some other trails leading to beautiful garden that's sometimes used for weddings.  During the warmer months they have outdoor events in this area.  These are mostly geared towards adults.  This is a smaller museum that really has a little bit of everything.  It is very enjoyable!

Just minutes from downtown Tulsa, and nestled in the scenic Osage Hills, is the renowned Gilcrease Museum with it's outstanding collection of fine art and artifacts of the American West, as well as a fabulous collection of Native American art, manuscripts, beadwork, leather goods, maps and documents.Thomas Gilcrease was born in the late 1890s, and his mother's Creek Indian ancestry afforded him an allotment of tribal land just to the south of Tulsa. That land later became part of one of Oklahoma's major oil fields. He founded the Gilcrease Oil Company in the early 1920s, and began travelling extensively and collecting artwork from around the world.Glcrease's pride in his American Indian heritage, and interest in the history of the American West provided the focus for his unparalleled collection. The museum's western art collection includes works by Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington, Joseph Sharp, James Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and John James Audubon. One of my favorite sections of this museum was the "Enduring Sprit" collection which featured art and artifacts from the Native Americans. There were some truly beautiful feathered headdresses, beaded shawls and ceremonial robes, and leather buckskins in this area.Another area of the museum features the history of the ancient Americans, with treasures from the early Hispanic residents of Central America, and the blending of their cultures with the native American tribes. The museum might seem small, but the collection is enormous with a large number of Remington's famed bronze sculptures on display. A guided trip to the museum archives in the basement reveals thousands of archeological artifacts including arrowheads, tools, and Native American pottery, toys, and dolls.If you're a fan of Native American and Western art, then the Gilcrease museum definitely belongs on your bucket list.