Top museums in the United States and Canada (according to the Amuse team)

Every day, people are using Amuse across the U.S. and Canada to learn more about the places and cities around them, but what about the people who are making the platform? Meet the Amuse team and discover the places they brought up when asked: What’s your favorite museum?

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DAKOTA, Co-Founder and CEO

Shedd Aquarium means a lot to me because the first time I visited Chicago was on an elementary school field trip to Shedd. I continue to be blown away every time I see the live dolphin performances.

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is one of the oldest continuously operating non-governmental aquariums in the United States. In 2007, the Shedd was the most visited cultural institution in Chicago with millions of visitors from around the world coming to see the award winning exhibits.

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TEGAN, Co-Founder and CTO

The Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa holds a special spot in my heart! I love how they explore perception of reality and sense; I especially went many times as a kid.

The Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ontario is the national STEM museum of Canada, and has a mission to preserve and promote the country’s scientific and technological heritage. The museum has been operating on the same site since 1967 and houses more than 60,000 individual objects displayed across 80,000 square feet (7,400 square meters) of exhibition space!

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CAROLINE, Head of Product

I did some work at Planet Word, so I feel a special connection to it. It’s a museum started by a teacher and very similar to a hands-on science museum with hands-on experiences, but it’s actually all about language and linguistics.

Planet Word is a language arts museum in Washington, D.C. where language “comes to life.” The museum is full of interactive exhibits that allow visitors to explore and learn the history of the English language across a variety of exhibits. The interactive poetry on the bathroom walls even won the museum the “Best Restroom Contest” in 2021!

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MADELINE, Head of Content and Partnerships

I love the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. It's gothically spooky and I'm fascinated by the history of medicine and past ideas about how the human body worked!

The Mütter Museum is a medical history and science museum with a collection so large, they can only display roughly 10% of the specimens, models, and equipment in the archives. One of the most famous specimens on display is the skeleton of a man with FOP– A rare disease that causes muscles to turn to bone. Only 800 cases have been documented since the first written discovery in 1648!

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PATRICK, Senior Developer

For me, there is something special about a big natural history museum for kids. When I was young and went to the ROM, it was awe inspiring.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is one of the largest museums in North America, and the largest in Canada. It is no surprise that with a museum of this scale, ROM invites over one million visitors through the doors every year. ROM is also Canada’s largest field-research institution, adding to the impressive list of feats this museum has in the country.

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JAMES, Senior Developer

My favourite museum is the Museum of Nature in Ottawa! It's in a historic castle and has a butterfly exhibit with a bunch of them flying around. They also host an awesome party every few months called Nature Nocturn with multiple DJs, lots of fun events, and late night museum admission!

The Canadian Museum of Nature is located in the historic Victoria Memorial Museum Building, the first purpose-built museum in Canada. A 66-foot (20m) glass tower contains a butterfly staircase, allowing viewers to get an up-close and personal view of some of the museum’s living collections.

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SHAIL, Senior Mobile Developer

I’d go with the Royal Aviation Museum in Winnipeg. The bush planes are super cool—they really highlight how essential flying is in remote parts of Canada. It’s not overly flashy, but the focus on real people and stories makes it stick.

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada showcases aviation history with the over 90 historic aircrafts in the museum collection. The institution began in a former airport hangar and remained until 2021, when the new 86,000 square foot (8,000 square meters) facility opened at its current location.

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ALEX, Fullstack Developer

"Favourite" maybe isn't the word I would use to describe this, but the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is the one that left the biggest impact on me, and I still think about it to this day. I think anyone who can, should experience it once.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Japan is dedicated to telling the story and the impact of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The museum is a popular stop for school groups in Japan and allows students and visitors to understand the aftermath of the nuclear attacks in a new way.

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MITCH, UX/UI Designer

My favourite is the Ontario Science Centre. I have a ton of good memories going there as a kid. It made science feel genuinely fun and approachable, mostly thanks to all the interactive exhibits you could actually play with instead of just look at.

The Ontario Science Centre is both a science museum and a hands-on learning institution. The museum originally opened in North York in 1969, but due to infrastructure hazards, the museum is currently being relocated. In the meantime, OSC has opened a temporary location at Harbourfront Centre to keep visitors engaged until the new OSC building opens in 2029.

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CHRISTINA, Content and Marketing Assistant

Space Center Houston captures how integral astronauts are to our world. The sacrifices they make so we can understand our world made me tear up in the museum. It really gives you a new appreciation for the men and women who make these sacrifices so their friends and family can learn more about their planet.

The Space Center Houston serves as the official visitor center of the NASA Johnson Space Center. As a Smithsonian Affiliate, the Space Center works separately from NASA as a non-profit organization. Space Center Houston also operates the Manned Space Flight Education Foundation, one of the nation’s leading science-education resources.

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ETHAN, Content and Marketing Assistant

As for me, I visited the NC Museum of Art once in college and I immediately fell in love. I would frequently make the two hour drive just to wander the halls and walk the sculpture garden multiple times.

The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is the state art museum of North Carolina, located in Raleigh. A satellite NCMA location is also in the works in Winston-Salem, with a goal of opening doors in 2027. The main museum includes over 40 galleries and one of the largest sculpture parks in the United States, with more than a dozen sculptures in the 164-acre park.

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Written by Ethan Ryan, Content and Marketing Assistant at Amuse