We only went to this museum because it was rather cold for the hike we originally wanted to do. The MAG is listed on TripAdvisor as number eight of things to do in Rochester (coming in behind the Strong and the George Eastman museums), but it sure should be number one. There are two floors of absolutely fantastic art. Having been to MoMa and the Frick in NYC two days earlier, I’d take this museum any day. Definitely make this a stop.

My husband and I expected to spend two hours in this museum but it “captured” us and we invested all day there. Why? We had the wonderful experience of taking a tour led by a nurse practitioner docent who was not only knowledgeable about art but offered us new perspectives of how to appreciate the artworks. The museum is also blessed with a teacher who became a security ambassador. She provided historical contexts to artworks that were of particular interest to us and she also challenged us to find unusual components of pieces. The ambience was further enhanced with an organist practicing his music. We have been art collectors for decades and have traveled to art museums all over the globe but this day at the Memorial Art Gallery was beyond special. What lovely art and people there who make it come alive!

I visit the MAG a few times a year. A lot of attractions in the Rochester area get damned by faint praise as good for a small city. MAG is just good. No you will not spend hours there and you probably won't gasp at seeing that painting (actually you might, if you're realthly into art history), but they have a wide-ranging collection that spans centuries, and paintings and sculptures that I never tire of seeing, as well as well-curated temporary exhibits. If you have any interest at all in art and are in Rochester, MAG is a must.

At $20 a person I was hesitant, but the niece (23) said she wanted to go, and I'm a push over auntie. Turned out it was awesome. The building (at least upstairs) is beautiful, and the collection, though not as deep with big names as other galleries I've been to, was well curated.We both appreciated that they are thinking through how to represent non-european, non-western cultures in the museum (they had a big sign about this). And we both liked the gallery with interesting pairings of art from the last year's collection. It ended up being worth it for the 2.5-3 hours we spent, and my niece filled out a survey so she'll get in free next time, which shows me she liked it enough to want to go back.

The Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester can best be described as an excellent regional art museum. It is on the small side as a museum (hence they call it a gallery), but it has a fair-sized collection of outstanding works from many centuries that are very well displayed.The museum itself seems to occupy several adjacent buildings, which blend together seamlessly inside. As you enter, note the Henry Moore sculpture in the center. When we visited, they had exhibitions from Nam June Paik and Alma Thomas. The Nam June Paik gallery was small and had fewer than a half-dozen works. That for Alma Thomas was far larger and more representative.The museum itself covers about 5,000 years and works across various genres, mediums, and styles. The range covers ancient Egypt and Greece up through Dutch Masters, up through great Impressionist works, and ending with highly contemporary works. There are few iconic paintings here, but many are outstanding in their own right.The works on display included works by Dutch artists such as Rembrandt (more about that below), Frans Snyders, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen. Check out Snyders' painting of the Aesop fable of the fox and the heron. Among other old masters, we saw Greco, Ribera, and others. If these names are not familiar to you (and that's fine) many of these artists' works can also be seen in museums like the Louvre.One highlight for us was the Impressionist gallery, which included three works by Monet, two by Matisse, and others by Braque, Cezanne, Courbet, Bonnard, Leger, Roualt, Degas (sculpture), and Rodin (also sculpture).Another highlight was the American galleries. You've seen paintings of boxers by George Bellows, but they had some warmer and more personal paintings from him, including one of his family vacationing at the beach. They also have an unusual panoramic painting by Childe Hassam (probably most famous for boulevards lined with flags or scenes of Central Park) of a more pastoral setting. There is an interesting painting (front and back) from Georgia O'Keefe, and a large window by the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany.By the way, they have a dozen or so stained glass windows in other place that seem to have been chose for interest. Look, for example, for the separate windows for a heraldic wild man and a heraldic wild woman. Another has a muzzled bear that looks like the artist had never actually seen a bear.They have creative works from pre-Columbian America, Africa, and other cultures.For the most part, the descriptions were very helpful, with a bit about both the painting and the painter. The art was also displayed in a way that was both viewer-friendly and favorable to the art itself.One odd exception was the Rembrandt painting of a boy in an armchair. The description is slight, but like many paintings attributed to Rembrandt, there is some question as to whether he actually painted it. If you ever visit his studio in Amsterdam, it isn't hard to see how these questions arise as he painted among his students. In any case, this museum actually put on an exhibition last year on the investigation into the painting's authenticity. In any case, Rembrandt's work or not (it appears that the answer is less than 100% clear either way), it is here to enjoy.Leave some time for the museum shop, which has lots of original works in addition to other unusual items for sale. There is a nice sit-down restaurant on site, which we did not use, although we did use the small cafe out front for some coffee and a quick sandwich.Before or after you go, be sure to see the sculpture garden in front, which is free. It has maybe a dozen or so fun, mostly modern sculptures.This is not a large enough gallery to compete head-to-head with major museums elsewhere, but what they have here is well-chosen, often excellent in its own right, and extremely well-presented.