Chrysler Museum of Art
Norfolk, Virginia
Though it looks fresh and new inside and out thanks to a renovation that concluded in spring 2014, the more than 80-year-old museum, the Chrysler Museum of Art, on the edge of Norfolk, Virginia’s Ghent historic district, predates the reflecting pool-like river inlet that makes for perfect pictures at outdoor events. Though it was originally an arts and sciences museum, the addition in 1971 of the personal collection of automotive heir Walter P. Chrysler, who had also helped develop the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has turned it into one of the top art museums in the country.
Today, groups holding meetings at the museum can wander past works from the likes of Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol or hold their event in one of the galleries.
“We’ve all been to a million convention centers and banquet rooms,” said Colleen Higginbotham, the museum’s director of visitor services. “People want something that’s not stuffy.” The museum offers groups numerous inventive spaces: Huber Court, a renaissance-inspired two-story atrium; the Ancient Worlds gallery; the historic Moses Myers House gardens; and the museum’s contemporary, industrial-chic glassblowing studio. The first two spaces, both on-site at the museum, can each accommodate up to 220 seated guests.
During the day, meeting groups can also take advantage of the 375-seat auditorium or do a team-building exercise in the glassblowing studio.
“We try to tailor glassblowing demos to the group as much as possible,” said Higginbotham. “When we had a bank here, we made a custom piggy bank for them to take home.”
Charleston Museum
Charleston, South Carolina
The Charleston Museum is not only the oldest museum in the country, it is also older than our country, dating back to 1773. Inspired by the British Museum, the Charleston Museum does not specialize in natural history, fine art, military history, decorative art or cultural history, though it covers them all. Rather, it aims to be a point of education about all aspects of the South Carolina lowcountry.
The museum’s boardroom, round room and 272-seat auditorium can all be rented for meetings and events during museum hours; the main lobby and 16,000-square-foot courtyard, which is completely enclosed from the street by the museum buildings, are available after hours.
For a break in your meeting or before an evening event, the museum has “behind-the-scenes tours and special curator-led tours, and a lot of times we get asked for something specific, so we can create special things,” said Susan McKellar, chief of museum operations. “In the past, we’ve created a scavenger hunt for Boeing that included spotter planes manufactured by Boeing during World War II to help fighters identify allied planes and avoid friendly fire.”
The museum also encompasses two historic homes, the 1802 Joseph Manigault House and the 1772 Heyward-Washington House, as well as a 580-acre wildlife sanctuary on James Island, all of which can be toured as an activity to complement a meeting at the museum.
Hunter Museum of American Art
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Poised on an 80-foot bluff overlooking the Tennessee River like a stone giant that stopped for a gaze at the surroundings and simply forgot to get up, Chattanooga’s Hunter Museum of American Art is an architectural marvel that required the creation of many new materials to create just the right style. The exterior, designed to blend in with the surrounding bluffs, is metal coated with a custom zinc surface to create the appearance of stone, and the curving steel roofs that cover the napping giant’s head are a custom type of steel named, appropriately, angel hair.
Between the grand foyer, the auditorium and the three river-view terraces, groups have different views of the museum and the surrounding landscape from which to choose, but they also have the guarantee that they’ll be the only game in town. “We only host one evening rental at a time in case the weather is foul and we have to bring folks inside,” said John Post, special events manager.
Due to the museum’s late opening time — 10 a.m., except on Wednesdays, when the museum doesn’t open until noon — groups also have the option to do breakfast and morning meetings in the lobby and grand foyer. Daytime meetings also have the benefit of incorporating team-building activities throughout the museum into their itineraries.
In the Designing Innovations program, the education director works with groups to create pieces of art that complement the lessons or meeting going on. She can also create a tailored scavenger hunt in the museum or bring in a docent to give a lecture on a specific topic related to the museum’s collection over lunch. Post cautions that as docents are volunteers, the museum needs sufficient notice to coordinate this offering.
Admission to the museum is included for all daytime event attendees, but there is an additional cost to keep the museum open during evening events. Post has broken the museum into three sections for evening purposes, allowing planners to choose how much to keep open based on their budgets.
