First off, the museum appearance is beautiful from the outside, but be aware that you will drive through a rough part of Columbus to get there. Not every exit in Columbus is exactly safe. After reaching the destination, however, I found the reception by the clerk poor at best. There was no greeting when I went inside, and when I asked for a pamphlet, he just gave me the floor plans of the museum. If you go here, make sure you ask him about the audio devices for the self-guided tour. The tour has prerecorded stops through audio devices which are supposed to be given out through the front desk.
The setup of the tour if you don't have this isn't exactly logical. The room with a video introduction comes after the Chattahoocheee exhibit, so if you go, you may want to see this first if you get a cruddy reception as I did.
The historical piece was a really good rendition of the local history of Columbus, however, it think it may have been generalized quite a bit. The exhibit on the Mississippians didn't state much about the society except to show artifacts and a large exhibit showing the huts that were lived in from 1000 to 1500 A.D. This is a highlight of the first part however.
The rest of the history is so generic as to not really be of much benefit. In a nutshell it will tell you the Roaring 20s was good for Columbus, the Depression was bad, Fort Benning helped develop the city into what it is today, and the needs of people haven't changed in thousands of years. All in all, this part of the tour is OK.
I've never been to an art museum and I think this was a good introduction to art. If you a an art buff this may not suit you, but for a beginner it was wonderful. I was impressed with some of the realism paintings. They are diverse and respresent a large collection of not only local but artists from across the eastern seaboard.
You'll see some art which you may not understand. This is just personal opinion, but I don't think much of art that is nothing more than a pattern of a burning tooth stitched onto a quilt or a proxima display on to the floor over two bumps called a woman.
Don't take it as all bad, however. There were some good highlights to be found in the art. The furniture and glassware weren't for me however.
If you have kids, the art section dedicated to local children's works isn't really worth the drive. It is a collection of drawings from a local school contest. There is also a couple of rooms of activities for children, but again this isn't that special. There is a room of chalkboards to draw on and a couple other artsy things to play with.
All in all, Columbus is a pretty boring town, but hey this is free and I actually enjoyed it. Expect to spend a couple hours here. Only go if you are in Columbus anyway. It isn't worth the gas money to drive from an hour or more away just for this attaction.
