Best New Museum (2020)

Situated in Jamestown, N.Y., the National Comedy Center is the first museum in the world dedicated to the art of comedy in the United States. More than 50 interactive exhibits and an extensive collection bring to life the voices of comedy greats, from Charlie Chaplin to Dave Chappelle.
Photo courtesy of National Comedy Center

The Cook Museum opened in 2019 as a state-of-the-art natural science museum in downtown Decatur. Inside, visitors will find a 15,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, a recreated Alabama cave, an indoor forest with its own treetop cabin and interactive exhibits focused on topics like the Arctic and desert environments, waterways, insects, space and geology.
Photo courtesy of Cook Museum of Natural Science

The Carolina Music Museum debuted in spring 2018 as one of the largest major music collections in the southeastern United States. Highlights of the collection include more than 40 English, European and American pianos (some dating back to 1570) and a newly acquired collection from the late Marlowe Sigal.
Photo courtesy of Carolina Music Museum

This new memorial and museum opened in 2018 to celebrate our nation’s Veterans, past and present. The museum tells the story of the men and women (and their families) who’ve served throughout our nation’s history through personal artifacts, letters, imagery and vintage film. The inspiring Legacy of Service exhibit showcases how Veterans are using their experiences to better their communities.
Photo courtesy of National Veterans Memorial and Museum

Originally founded in 1980, the National Nordic Museum in Seattle recently debuted its brand new facility in the Ballard neighborhood. This new exhibit space tells the 12,000-year story of Nordic history and culture across the nations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The building itself was designed with Nordic details and materials and features a central Fjord Hall that narrows as visitors go deeper into the museum.
Photo courtesy of National Nordic Museum

2019 saw the opening of the Mascot Hall of Fame in Indiana, a new museum “celebrating the unsung heroes of sports and communities.” This kid-friendly space includes a t-shirt shooter, sports court and interactive playground area, hands-on Science of Silliness Lab and a Build-A-Mascot Workshop from Build-A-Bear.
Photo courtesy of Mascot Hall of Fame

The Louisiana Children’s Museum opened its brand new facility in 2019, with 8.5 acres and two floors of exhibits for kids to explore. Exhibits cover topics in literacy, the environment, STEM, arts & culture and health & wellness.
Photo courtesy of Louisiana Children's Museum

The new Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University highlights every medium through a changing lineup of exhibitions, live performances and film screenings. Even the building itself is a work of art, designed by Steven Holl Architects with a titanium-zinc and etched-glass exterior.
Photo courtesy of Iwan Baan / Institute for Contemporary Art

The Royal Alberta Museum moved into its brand new facility in downtown Edmonton in 2018. This 419,000-square-foot complex provides a new space to display portions of the vast collection covering topics like Canadian history, indigenous studies, archaeology, biology, botany, geology and paleontology.
Photo courtesy of Royal Alberta Museum

Minnesota’s official natural history museum and planetarium opened in its new home on the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul in 2018. The museum’s popular wildlife dioramas return, alongside new high-tech exhibits, an outdoor learning area and a digital planetarium projector.
Photo courtesy of The Bell Museum and University of Minnesota