By Malerie Yolen-Cohen for Getaway Mavens
Greensburg PA: Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg. This small county art museum, dedicated to American art from 1750 to the current day, is a revelation: mostly because it takes the simple act of art appreciation and meditation seriously, and also acknowledges that rather than being passive, the very act of gazing at a piece of art is interactive and immersive. To that end, the Westmoreland Museum is stocked with mobile chairs stamped with – “move me to your favorite spot, then sit and stare for awhile.” Why is this world-class museum, named by Architectural Digest as the Best Designed Museum in Pennsylvania, in a small (pop 35,000) western PA town? Art lover, Mary Marchand Woods, bequeathed her entire estate in 1949 to establish the institution that would become the Art Museum ten years later, and the grateful community has supported it ever since. The last expansion, in 2015, added a beautiful LEDE Silver glass-enclosed entrance and gallery. Exhibits on three floors include a Tiffany window, the works of Mary Cassatt, Milton Avery, and other well-known artists.