Houston's Museums

Mention Houston and attendees may picture Enron, the space center, or the city’s massive oil, gas, and shipping industries. Few think of museums and culture.

However, Houston is one of the few US cities with permanent ballet, opera, symphony and theater companies, ranking second only to New York in total number of theater seats. Over 30 museums, many funded by oil fortunes, offer an array of group activities.

Much of this downtown district is connected by the downtown Houston Tunnel system, joining the Theater District, parks, and Historic District. Options include:

* Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens: Part of the Museum of Fine Arts, this collection showcases American decorative arts. Behind the home, the 14-acre gardens are divided into eight areas ranging from a formal garden to a butterfly garden.

* Contemporary Arts Museum: This distinctive metal building focuses on international art created within the past four decades. The museum does not have a permanent collection but instead features changing exhibitions by artists.

* Holocaust Museum Houston: Honoring both the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust, this somber museum emphasizes Houston-area residents who endured the tragic period. The Ethel and Al Herzstein Theater continuously shows "Voices," a film of oral testimonies by Holocaust witnesses from the Houston area.

* Houston Museum of Natural Science: One of the most visited science museums in the country, this facility includes the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals, considered one of the world's best collections of priceless specimens. With Houston's ties to the oil industry, it's not surprising to find one of the world's most comprehensive exhibits on oil and gas. The Wortham IMAX Theatre and Burke Baker Planetarium offer a variety of shows, from a look at Houston's skies to laser displays to six-story, specially filmed nature shows on the IMAX screen. The museum is also specially noted for the Cockrell Butterfly Center housing over 2,000 live, free-flying butterflies within its glass pyramid.

* Menil Collection: This museum houses the private collection of John and Dominique de Menil, over 15,000 paintings, sculptures, photographs and books. The extensive collection is especially noted for its Byzantine and medieval works and tribal collections from African, Oceania, and the American Pacific Northwest.

* Museum of Fine Arts: Founded in 1900, this museum was the first municipal art museum in Texas and today houses over 40,000 objects of art. The museum's decorative arts collection is housed at the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens.

* Museum of Health and Medical Science: As home of the world's largest medical center, downtown Houston makes a natural location for this extensive facility dedicated to the human body. Visitors can walk through the Amazing Body Pavilion for a tour that includes a 22-foot-long backbone, a walk-through brain, and numerous interactive kiosks that present questions about anatomy.

* The Children's Museum of Houston: This hands-on museum includes nine galleries that invite exploration by children. The Roy and Lillie Cullen Investigations Gallery lets children learn the art of shopping, from use of a child-size automatic teller machine to gathering pretend eggs from a chicken coop.

* Theater District: The Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet both perform at the Wortham Theater Center, which includes several facilities available for group rental including the 2,465-seat Brown Theater, the 1100-seat Cullen Theater, and a Grand Foyer. The professional theater company, one of the three oldest resident companies in the nation, performs at The Alley Theater which offers a balcony with a view of the city skyline.