If you’re a frequent reader of our blog, it wont surprise you to learn we’re cultured af.  If you’re new to the blog, we’d like you to know we’re cultured af.  That’s right, we absolutely love a good museum.  Lucky for us, Dallas has about a million great museums.  One of our favorite though, hands down, is the Nasher Sculpture Center.  This little retreat in the middle of the city is an absolute gem, filled with some of the most unexpected art installations in the city.

Located off of Flora Street between the Trammel Crow Center (big building with the pyramid on top) and Klyde Warren Park, the Nasher Sculpture Center is immediately serene the moment you walk in.  Juxtaposed with the hustling and bustling down town, this is crazy comforting.  Right away you’re greeted by two information booths where you can buy tickets and get a brochure on the current installations and the Nasher Sculpture Center generally.  You’ll also buy your admission ticket here. A day pass for the museum will run you $10, unless you’re under 12, in which case, get off the internet and go kick a ball.  Or go to the Nasher Sculpture Center, because you’re admission is free.  

How you decide to take in the museum is up to you.  We prefer to start downstairs to see the new local creations and read about the inspiration behind each.  After that, we venture upstairs to reflect on the more historical artwork and chat with the wildly knowledgeable curators.  Legit, do not hesitate to ask the art historians standing around each room upstairs. They will tell you the most magical of stories about each of the pieces and the artists who created them.  These people know what’s up and are the reason the Nasher Sculpture Center is one of our favorite places to visit in the city.  Prepare to have your mind blown by some crazy artist stories.  Also, apparently artists were creating and experiencing some pretty weird shit in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  Who knew?  Answer: The Nasher Sculpture Center art historians, duh.   

Once we finish with all the indoor installations, we head over to the café.  Yeah, they serve food here.  Yeah, we never say no to food.  The grilled cheese is sorta a must for us, but the rest of the menu looks pretty legit too.  We recommend pairing your snack/meal/whatever with a crisp white wine and picking a table that overlooks the sculpture garden.  We spend most of our café time practicing our Aussie accents, because well, that’s what we do.

Post our grilled cheese and wine break, we head outside to fully appreciate the sculpture garden.  This space, again, is downright serene.  Full of more unexpected pieces and massive oak (we think) and magnolia (we’re pretty sure) trees, we can spend an entire afternoon here and have been known to do so a time or two.  It’s a perfect place to sneak away from the city for a minute and soak in some nature, art, and grilled cheese with wine. 

Moral of the story, if you haven’t made a point to see the Nasher Sculpture Center yet, carpe diem.