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Tourist guides the world over tout museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Louvre in Paris as bastions of culture, history, and – of course – art. Rightfully so, obviously, as they have undoubtedly left a massive impression on the world, passionately promoting creative expression spanning millennia and hundreds of former and current nations and cultures. However, while these museums have certainly earned their reputation and patronage for their unquestionable contributions, others remain somewhat obscure. Either known mostly by locals and visitors or within a narrow discipline such as textiles or fashion, the broader general public likely does not know of their existence. In spite of this, though, they stand as entirely worthwhile destinations for those who appreciate the arts, crafts, and their impact on society.

1. The American Visionary Art Museum : Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the American Visionary Art Museum collects and showcases the works of “outsider artists” with little to no formal training. General admission costs $12 USD, and visitors find themselves treated to a lesson in how anyone – regardless of occupation, age, race, gender or gender identity, or even mental state – can find a voice within themselves to express their ideas and emotions creatively. All of the pieces on display were created by an eclectic mix of the institutionalized, the secretive, and the perfectly ordinary, with only their lack of education in the visual arts and compelling need to imaginatively convey what they feel internally in common. The AVAM features a tall sculpture barn, a sculpture plaza, and a wildflower garden in addition to their main hall. Every year, they host a popular kinetic sculpture race that draws in locals and a handful of lucky tourists.

2. Westervelt-Warner Museum of American Art : Fans of American art must head to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for an extensive assemblage and survey of the nation’s creative history. Highlights include paintings by Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Thomas Cole, and Asher B. Durand, portraits of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Marquis de Lafayette painted directly from the men themselves, Paul Revere’s handcrafted silver, and furniture made by Joseph Barry, Duncan Phyfe, and Charles Honore Lannuier. This impressive collection offers a wonderful, historical perspective on the evolution of American art and the movements represented throughout the centuries.

3. ArtCar Museum : Although the ArtCar Museum in Houston, Texas heavily emphasizes the deconstruction and reconstruction of manufactured vehicles, it does feature exhibitions by local, national, and international artists as well. Art cars represent a departure from the assembly-line sameness in the post-industrialized first world, and this museum turns its attention towards forging uniqueness out of the mundane. They host a number of open submission shows each year, but the biggest draw remains their annual Art Car Parade. Some entrants are quirky, some sculptural, and some utterly incomprehensible – but they all serve the purpose of blending utilitarianism with creativity and taking lighthearted jabs at conformist constructs.

4. Intuit : Overshadowed by the Art Institute and other world-renowned museums in Chicago, Illinois, Intuit remains one of the most necessary stops during any trip to the city. It displays intuitive and outsider works as a means of nurturing an understanding and appreciation of creators who shunned the arbitrary boundaries created by the art establishment. Some may have never even taken an art class, offering proof that innovation does not always inherently stem directly from education. Visitors must explore The Henry Darger Room, which houses the bizarre and beautiful vision of the influential, yet mysterious and isolationist, late janitor.

5. The Outsider Art Museum : Opening in Moscow, Russia in 1996, this museum holds significance for more than artistic reasons. With creativity suppressed, censored, and discouraged during its tenure as the USSR, the emergence of the nation’s outsider art scene signified a return to freedom of expression and ideals. Its first exhibition opened in 1989, while still operating a somewhat nomadic institution, and brought to light the struggles of the mentally ill by showcasing their honest interpretations of how conditions such as schizophrenia, dementia, and other disorders come to effect them. The museum has since expanded its collection to artists outside of institutions in addition to finding a permanent home.

6. Frye Art Museum : Though it makes its home in Seattle, Washington, the Frye Art Museum’s main collection focuses on naturalistic English, German, and French landscape and portrait paintings from the nineteenth century. The holdings have since expanded to include more modern and contemporary styles, with the most recent acquisition dated 2007, from a broader selection of countries.

7. Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art : Long mistakenly considered the exclusive domain of the juvenile, comic book and cartoon art has only very recently begun to slough off the stigmas of its past and come into its own as a provocative, intelligent medium with droves of unexplored potential. New York City’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art dispels many of the misconceptions regarding the role of comic books, graphic novels, and animation in society, tailoring its exhibitions to underscore how they operate using the same criteria as literature, the visual arts, and film to express concepts creatively. It also looks into the sociopolitical underpinnings of many early works wrongly dismissed as disposable literature fit only for children as well, analyzing them with the same eye as one would critique a novel or an oil painting as a means of highlighting their frequently overlooked intellectual aspects.

8. Sapporo Art Park : This 7.5 hectare park, located in Sapporo, Japan, features beautiful sculptures by national and international artists alike, with special attention paid to those from sister cities. The works themselves have been crafted to interact with the lush green landscape around it, with the aesthetics of the art intending to bring out the peaceful beauty of nature and vice versa. But the exhibitions do not end there – the park also play host to a staging area, a kiln, a lodge, and a number of different studios, including ones for crafts, glass, woodworking, and print. Its loving devotion to the visual arts makes it stand as a completely necessary pilgrimage for all connoisseurs of the creative.

9. Toilet Seat Art Museum : Esoteric, unconventional, and offering a lighthearted, fun experience for kids and open-minded adults alike, the Toilet Seat Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas promises a unique trip with some unusual visuals. Over 700 decorated toilet seats adorn the walls and hang from the ceiling in artist Barney Smith’s studio and show space. His hilarious collages cover a wide range of themes, ranging from travel and educational depictions of wildlife to sports teams and media figures. In spite of the humor quality, however, this museum serves to introduce children to art and prove to them that creative expression does not limit itself to still life paintings hung majestically next to a “Do Not Touch” sign – it can retain an element of fun and spark that delights and entertains as well.

10. Booth Western Art Museum : Those who enjoy artwork depicting the American West would do tell to patronize this Cartersville, Georgia museum, which compiles pieces both contemporary and classic into one comprehensive collection. Although they emphasize Western and Southwestern styles, themes, and movements, some of the galleries showcase art from the Civil War as well as presidential photographs, correspondences, and other memorabilia. They boast at least one signed letter per American president in this showcase.

11. Sir John Sloane’s Museum : In a city as saturated with art and culture as London, England, it is easy to see how so many galleries and museums unfortunately slip under the radar when tourists on limited budgets and schedules head towards the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery first. But advocates, patrons, and general fans of the arts and art history must work in a visit to Sir John Sloane’s Museum while in London. Paintings by William Hogarth, Antoine Watteau, J.M.W Turner, and other masters adorn the walls, while other collections feature textiles, antique architectural and construction supplies, continental stained glass, furniture, timepieces, Chinese art, casts, Neo-classical sculpture, and Renaissance, Medieval, Egyptian, and Classical antiquities – something for nearly every taste.

12. China Printing Museum : The China Printing Museum in Beijing may exist as the largest homage to the discipline in the world – rightfully so, considering the revolutionary print medium began its unquestionably influential life in that nation – but remains something of an obscurity to tourists. Tracing the history of print and typography from its roots in woodblocks to its current, predominantly digital, state, the museum compares and contrasts Asian techniques with its European counterparts. It even owns a stunning replica of Johannes Gutenberg’s original printing press. Art buffs and history fanatics alike can delight in this amazing exploration of an integral aspect of human society.

13. Mata Ortiz Gallery : Nestled within the creative stronghold of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the gallery at the Mata Ortiz sells and exhibits some of the most exquisitely crafted pottery in the world. Drawing from a variety of pre-Hispanic influences, these masterful craftsmen and –women blur the lines between history and the present to create works from ancient techniques with decidedly contemporary flair.

14. Pretoria Art Museum : One of the few art museums on the African Continent, the Pretoria Art Museum in Pretoria, South Africa focuses mainly on artwork from within the nation’s own borders. As a country with a troubled history and an uncertain future, the artwork in South Africa reflects its cultural heritage as well as its citizens’ reactions and interpretations of the chaos surrounding their lives. The progression of turmoil and confusion can be traced from its earlier pieces to the more contemporary, though the featured artists do in fact draw from an extremely broad spectrum of themes, styles, and movements – not just the political and social upsets.

15. Iroquois Indian Museum : Located in Howes Cave, New York, the curators and staff at Iroquois Indian Museum desires to promote an appreciation for and understanding of their rich Native American culture through their artistic traditions. Believing that valuable information and insight can be gained through analyzing a civilization’s adornments and artistically utilitarian crafts, this museum transforms patrons into amateur archaeologists exploring an ancient and endangered society. It offers galleries on artifacts with both historical as well as aesthetic significance, contemporary art, and valuable photographs, baskets, dolls, and other objects reflecting the Iroquois’s past and perceptions of beauty.

16. Riverside Art Museum : The Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, California narrows its emphasis to American artists from California and the Inland Empire. Exhibitions mainly pull from newer art movements such as pop surrealism, tattoos, lowbrow, and graffiti, although they hold comparatively more understated photography, poster, and illustration shows as well. Fans of older and classical art may find little to appease their tastes, but those who revel in eclectic, innovative, and occasionally odd contemporary works will succumb to Stendhal Syndrome with the amount of creativity on display.

17. Mindalae Museum : Indigenous traditions meet contemporary ideas in this relatively new Quito, Ecuador museum. Past and present converge in showcases of artifacts, crafts, and other venues of functional and creative expression compiled from coastal, highland, Afro-Ecuadorian, and Amazonian cultures. It promotes these societies by highlighting their technological and aesthetic innovations and analyzing their relationship to art in Ecuador today.

18. Fuller Craft Museum : Brockton, Massachusetts hosts this bustling collection of functional art from across temporal and national boundaries. Though they occasionally show more traditional arts, the focus here lay on utilitarian but aesthetically striking pieces of jewelry, clothing, pottery, and other crafts. A variety of media, colors, and textures abound in their stunning exhibits, which underscores how everyday objects can still carry with them the beauty and skill involved in the visual arts.

19. Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts : The often-overlooked crafts of quilting and fiber art receive some much-needed recognition in this Cedarburg, Wisconsin museum. Dedicated to breathing life into a respectable but occasionally fading craft, it displays and restores quilts from all over the world and throughout centuries. Other crafts such as textiles and dollmaking occasionally make appearances here as well.

20. Museo del Traje : Using the body as a canvas has long stood as one of the primary hallmarks of fashion, and no museum understands this as much as the Museo del Traje in Madrid, Spain. With extensive exhibitions of historical, contemporary, and popular clothing and costuming, jewelry, and other wearable mediums – in addition to some others not designed for such purposes – the museum promotes awareness of functional crafts as one facet on the broad spectrum of the visual arts.

No matter their emphasis or location, these museums admirably devote their time, money, and resources to promoting the myriad creative – and often fully functional – ways mankind expresses ideas, concepts, and emotions. The passion they display day in and day out to further cultural and artistic awareness renders them fully necessary places to patronize. Just because they stand outside mainstream consciousness, acknowledged mainly by locals, visitors, and industry professionals, does not make them unworthy of patronage.