1. Kimbell Art Museum: A Modernist Mecca
Housed in an iconic building designed by modernist master Louis I. Kahn, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is renowned for its prestigious art collection as well as its special exhibits, educational programs, and research library. Featuring the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, the museum consists of a curated selection of 350 works of art, including masterpieces by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rubens, Monet, Matisse, and Picasso, among others.
2. Amon Carter Museum of American Art: The American Art Frontier
Opened in 1961, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art features a permanent collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century artworks. With more than 400 pieces by American artists Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, including drawings, illustrations, paintings, and sculptures, the museum explores the settlement of the Old West. The gallery also specializes in Native American and expeditionary art, and landscape and coastal scenes from the nineteenth century Hudson River School movement, as well as American Impressionism, Modernism, and photography, as exemplified by William Merritt Chase, Joseph Stella, and Alfred Stieglitz to name a few.
3. Bass Performance Hall: Broadway in the West
Designed by David M. Schwarz and built in limestone in 1998, the 2,042-seat venue was inspired by classic European opera houses. The Bass Performance Hall hosts world-class entertainment, including national Broadway tours, the McDavid Studio concert series, and popular music concerts. The hall is also the permanent home of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Opera, the Texas Ballet Theater, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and Cliburn Concerts. The Bass stage also features a variety of children's educational programs, performances, and student matinees.
4. Fort Worth Stockyards: All Things Western
A former nineteenth-century livestock market, the Fort Worth Stockyards are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Celebrating the city's cattle herding tradition, the stockyards house entertainment and shopping attractions, including shops such as M.L. Leddy's Boots & Saddlery, Texas Jake's Trading Company, and Maverick Fine Western Wear and Saloon, as well as hot spots like the Horseshoe Hill Café, Hunter Brothers H3 Ranch steakhouse, and Billy Bob's Texas Honky Tonk Kitchen. This quintessential Western location also features cattle drives, horseback riding, and overnight accommodations for adventurous guests.
5. Fort Worth Botanic Garden: A Western Oasis
Established in 1934, the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, set on 109 acres, is the oldest botanic garden in Texas. Featuring 2,501 species of native and exotic plants, the park showcases a variety of gardens, including a conservatory with orchid and bromeliad displays, a four seasons garden with irises, daylilies, and chrysanthemums, a Japanese garden with koi ponds, waterfalls, cherry trees, pagodas and a teahouse, and an entry garden with Texas and Mexican Bush sage, red yucca, and agave plants. The park also houses the largest collection of begonias in the United States and hosts special events, such as weddings and garden parties.
