Plan Your Visit

Visit the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, located at the heart of Memphis in historic Overton Park.

The Brooks is dedicated to enriching the lives of our visitors through the museum’s expanding collection, varied exhibitions, and dynamic programs. The museum provides visitors the opportunity to learn about the visual arts through diverse traveling exhibitions and thought-provoking in-house exhibitions.

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Hours

Christmas Eve

Closed

Christmas Day

Closed

New Year's Day

Closed

Monday + Tuesday

Closed

Wednesday

10a – 8p

Thursday

10a – 4p

Friday

10a – 4p

Saturday

10a – 5p

Sunday

11a - 5p

Tickets

Adult

$15

Adult (55+)

$12

Students (with ID)

$8

Youth (7-17)

$8*

Children

Free*

Address

1934 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
901.544.6200

Every Saturday, your museum is FREE from 10a - 12p!

*Children 13 years of age and under must be accompanied by an adult throughout the year.

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is committed to providing a safe and inclusive space for all. If you need special accomodations or are curious to know more about any of our accessibilty supports, please contact us.

You can start your visit to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art online and purchase your tickets before your arrive.

Schedule your visit online

Blue Star Museum

We are proud to participate in Blue Star Museums, a partnership among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, Joining Forces, MetLife Foundation, and museums across the country. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art offers free entry for all active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel and their families all year long.

School tours

School tours are designed to engage students in critical thinking about art, and to support students to develop visual literacy skills. Students of all ages are invited to explore the rich collection of the Brooks Museum on a tour.

School tours are sponsored by Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation.

Guided Tours

Trained docents will lead student groups on a focused tour of the museum collection or special exhibition. Teachers can select the tour which best meets the needs of their students. Tours for all grades (pre-K-12) can be scheduled with an optional hands-on studio art activity. We recommend Guided Tours as the best way for student groups to experience the museum. All students who visit the Brooks Museum with their class will receive a family pass to return to the museum for a free visit. One adult per every 10 students is required. To schedule a Guided Tour, your group must include a minimum of 10 students. To schedule a studio art activity following your Guided Tour, your group must include a minimum of 20 students.

Self-Guided Tours

Self-guided tours are led by classroom teachers, home school parents, or community leaders. You may schedule a self-guided tour if you do not wish to have a docent guide your tour, if guided tours are not available on the day you plan to visit, or if your students will be carrying out an assignment in the galleries. Self-guided tours are available year-round. Maximum 40 students. 1 adult per every 6 students required.

Transportation


Student Ticket Subsidy Program

The Tennessee Arts Commission generously offers arts grants through the Student Ticket Subsidy Program that can be used to cover the cost of bus transportation when visiting the museum for a guided school tour. Applications must be received no less than 30 days prior to the date of your tour. Payments are made directly to your school from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
For more information and application guidelines, please click here.

Directions

Traveling I-40 Eastbound

Take exit 1B for US-51/Danny Thomas Boulevard. Continue on Alabama Avenue. Exit ramp left at Alabama Avenue. Turn left on Poplar Avenue. Inside of the park continue straight ahead, and you will soon see the museum on the right.

Traveling I-40 Westbound

Take I-40 West from Nashville to Memphis. Follow the signs. Do not leave the expressway route, although you will see alternate directions for I-40. You will stay on the same road which will turn into Sam Cooper Boulevard, passing exits for Perkins Road, Graham Road, and Highland Street.

Continue on Sam Cooper Boulevard through 2 stoplights until you come to a T-intersection. This is East Parkway, and you will turn left. Go to the next traffic light and turn right. You are now on Poplar Avenue. As you travel West on Poplar Avenue, you will pass the forested area of the park on the right and come upon the golf course area. After you have passed the lighted intersection at Cooper Street, take the first right turn into Overton Park. You will come to a 4-way stop at the golf clubhouse. Continue straight ahead, and you will soon see the museum on the left.

Traveling I-55 Northbound

Take I-55 North into Memphis. I-55 turns into I-240 at a huge multi-interstate interchange, take I-240 West. Do not exit towards I-55/St. Louis signs. Continue straight North on I-240 to Union Avenue. Take Union Avenue East exit. Continue on Union Avenue for about 3 miles. Take Tucker Street to the left. There is a large buff brick Church of Christ building on this corner. Continue on Tucker Street, crossing Madison and Poplar Avenues. Follow straight into Overton Park. The museum is straight ahead on the right.

Parking

Parking is available in front of the museum and along the roads within Overton Park. A street-level public parking lot behind the museum and next to the Overton Park golf course is also available.

Handicap spaces are located in front of the museum's plaza, near the main entrance.

Inside Art Guidelines


  • Guided tours for schools and community groups do not include a visit to Inside Art.
  • Teachers and group leaders can schedule time for their students to visit Inside Art following the completion of their guided tour and art-making activity.
  • Groups are asked to limit their time in Inside Art to 30 minutes or less.
  • Self-guided groups in Inside Art must be limited to 30 students or less, and must include 1 chaperone for every 10 students.
  • For groups of more than 30 students, group leaders should divide their students into two smaller groups. One can visit Inside Art while the other visits the galleries using a gallery guide.
  • Gallery guides can be picked up at the Visitor Services Desk in the entry area of the museum.

Visit with Families

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art welcomes families to experience our permanent collection and traveling exhibitions, which feature art from all genres and time periods.

There are many ways to look at art with children. Here are some tips for planning your next visit to the Brooks, as well as a few ideas for follow-up activities.

Before you visit the Brooks Museum

What is an art museum? Talk with your children about what they think an art museum is and what they might see there. There aren't any fish or dinosaurs here; rather, we have sculptures, paintings, photographs, drawings, and even design objects.
Explain museum behavior. Look with your eyes, not with your hands. Use indoor voices. Walk, don’t run in the galleries.
When available, use one of our interactive Family Guides, which you can pick up at our Visitor Services desk. Or attend a family-friendly program. See our calendar for upcoming events.

Looking at art with your children

  • Please help us protect the art by not touching. The oils from hands can damage works of art. Follow your children’s lead as to what excites and interests them. An hour – or even half an hour – may be enough time. Remember, you can always come back!
  • Play I Spy. Ask your children to find shapes, colors, and objects, or to count any number of things in a gallery or work of art. They can find animals, name everything they see that is blue in one gallery, etc. Take turns describing a detail from a painting aloud while your child stands in the center of the gallery with eyes closed. When your child opens his or her eyes, can he or she find the painting with the detail you described?
  • Journey around the world. Travel around the globe without leaving Memphis. Look at objects from different continents, cultures, or countries. “Visit” a landscape painting to take a swim in a lake, hike up a mountain, or walk in the French countryside.

Ideas for follow-up activities

  • Look for opportunities to reinforce things your children discovered. Mention how everyday objects and things in your home are similar to things you observed in artworks at the museum.
  • Be an art critic. Encourage your children to draw, write about, and talk about the things they saw at the museum. What was their favorite work of art? What didn't they like? Why?
  • Become a curator. Start your own collection at home. Use something your child or family already collects, or build up a collection of something around your house, such as buttons, dolls, toy cars, leaves, or rocks. Think about how you would display your collection and who you might want to share it with.

Community Days at the Brooks

For a fun, free family activity, come to the Brooks! Community Days allow families and friends to experience the museum in a fun, engaging environment. These free events feature art-making activities, events like storytelling in the galleries, musical and dance performances, and family-oriented gallery guides, all designed to engage families with current exhibitions.

Family Guides

Free interactive family guides, which include activities for families to complete both in the gallery and later at home, are created in conjunction with special exhibitions as well as for the permanent collection. Inside these guides families will find questions for guided looking, information on artists and artwork, and suggestions for further exploration. Guides are available at the Visitor Services desk and in the special exhibition galleries.

Brooks Summer Arts Camp

NEW in 2020, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art offers weeklong art camps for children ages 5 through 14, inspiring young minds to explore art and creativity. Camp includes active learning in the galleries, looking at original works of art, creating studio projects, active play, and more. Get inspired by works of art from the museum's collection and exhibitions! Please note: Campers bring their own snacks and their own lunches for all days of camp. Camp will be held Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with extended childcare available at an additional fee

Become a member

You Belong at the Brooks.

 

Accessibility

Wheelchairs

Wheelchairs are available at admissions at the front entrance, on the main floor. If you would like Security to meet you at your car at the front entrance, please call 901.544.6200. There are a limited number of wheelchairs, so they are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The front is handicapped accessible with a ramp from the parking lot. Note: There is not an automatic door.

Tours

Tours for groups with special needs are available. To make a reservation, please contact the Tour Coordinator at 901.544.6215 or send an email.
To protect the art, motion sensors are tripped at one foot from the artwork. Should an individual require more accessibility, please call our Visitor Services Manager at 901.544.6256 to arrange a tour with a member of our curatorial staff when the museum is closed to regular visitors.

Sensory Processing Support

The Brooks has partnered with KultureCity to improve our ability to assist and accommodate guests with sensory needs. The Brooks is committed to providing an inclusive and seamless experience for all guests for all events including those with sensory needs. We strive to raise awareness of the needs and challenges faced by individuals with sensory processing disorders by supplying our team with continuous training and by offering the resources and accommodations below to our guests.

Weighted Lap Pads and Sensory Bags

Weighted lap pads and sensory bags containing special KCVIP badges, fidget tools, noise canceling headphones and other resources are available at the Welcome Desk.

Social Story and KultureCity All-Inclusive App

Download the KultureCity All-Inclusive App (App Store and Google Play) to get your social story to help you further with your visit to Memphis' art museum.

Enhance your connection with the world of art

There are many ways for individuals, foundations, and corporations to support Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Ways to give