Dallas Museum of Art was different from the other art museums I had been to. Its pre-Columbian collections were both art and archaeological artifacts. Dallas Museum of Art seemed to have many doors. We entered the museum from its back entrance. We inquired about the restaurants in the museum. We learned that there were two places to eat: Eighteen Eighteen Restaurant and the Atrium Cafe. The Atrium Cafe was near the front entrance. It had nice decorations, colorful chairs, and colorful modern art on the windows. We chose our lunch from the foods of the day. I chose Chicken Quesadilla ($7.50), and my husband chose Chicken Parmesan Sandwich ($7.50). My food was very delicious, while my husband's was banal. We drank sparkling water with our lunch.
We started our tour at Level 4, Arts of the Americas. The exhibit of arts of the Americas was one of my favorites. Two of the temporary exhibits were on Mayan textiles: "On the Way to Chichicastenango: Maya Textiles from Guatemala" and "Maya Textiles from Guatemala: Highlights of the Nasher Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art." We were taken by the beauty of the woven textiles. The exhibits on the pre-Columbus era were not only art pieces, but also historical artifacts. Aztecs, Incas, and the Sican (from Peru) produced astonishingly beautiful decorative pieces made from silver, gold, and other materials.
Other memorable exhibitions for me were Asia, Pacific, and Africa. The pieces from Asia were quite diverse. Some belonged to Gandharan Buddhist art of the 2nd to 4th centuries A.D., some to the Mughal Empire in India from the 15th to 19th centuries A.D., some from China, some from Japan, and some from the Near East (Arabia, Persia, a few Ottoman pieces). The African collection, we learned, focused on the sub-Saharan regions. (However, the temperature of the rooms housing these exhibits, especially ones that have wood pieces, was quite cold for me. Take a jacket.) The exhibits on Ancient Mediterranean included Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Egyptian pieces. The piece called "Orpheus taming wild animals" was an Eastern Roman Empire piece and was taken from Gaziantep, Turkey. Although I enjoy watching ancient artifacts, I have a suspicion that this piece might have been an unauthorized piece.
The Dallas Museum of Art also had exhibits on European Painting and Sculpture, American Painting and Sculpture, Contemporary Art, and Design and Decorative Arts. The admission is free for students with ID, $6 for adults, and $4 for senior citizens and children over 11. On the first Tuesday of each month, and Thursday evenings from 5 to 9pm, the admission is free for all. There are free guided tours of the museum on Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm.