Facebook Pixel Kentucky Museum | Western Kentucky University
Kentucky Museum

Kentucky Museum


OPEN FREE TO THE PUBLIC

HOURS: Wednesday-Saturday 9AM-4PM (Check above for periodic closure information) 

PHYSICAL ADDRESS:  1444 Kentucky Street, Bowling Green, KY 42101

FRONT DESK: 270-745-2592

 

Plan Your Visit

The Museum is open to the public  Wednesday through Saturday 9AM-4PM*.

Individual visitors are welcome for self-guided visits on Wednesday through Saturday. ALL GROUPS must complete online reservation requests forms. 

Click here for more information to plan your visit.

*Consult blue information bar atop web pages for occasional closure information. 

 


WKU Class Visits

Faculty should click here to schedule a Class Tour, or click here to schedule a Close Study of Collections session.

For questions about class tours or Museum resources contact Education Curator.

WKU Individual Student Visits for Course/Extra Credit

Interested in sending students on their own for class or extra credit? Learn more here, or contact Education Curator.


summer docents
Now Hiring for Summer
Apply Now!

The Museum is now hiring summer student docents. Must be a current WKU student, or an incoming freshman, who has registered for the fall. Learn more and apply online. 

first farmers graphic
Finding the First Farmers
April 9 5-6 PM

Dr. David Pollack and Dr. A. Gwynn Henderson will discuss the diverse nature of indigenous farm life in the Barren River drainage of south-central Kentucky during the Mississippian era. Exploring recent archaeological finds, they will expand on the First Farmers of the Barren River Valley exhibit at the Kentucky Museum to address misconceptions on indigenous peoples’ identity, technology, settlement patterns, foodways, and trade routes to reveal the complex societies present before Europeans arrived in what is now North America. They will also explore the similarities between indigenous farmers and Kentucky farm families of the late nineteenth to early twenty-first centuries. Attendance QR code available at event for WKU students.

 

 

Celebration of the Arts
Abound Credit Union Celebration of the Arts
March 2 - April 12, 2024

The Kentucky Museum presents their annual juried art exhibit, which is truly a celebration of this region’s art. Generously sponsored by Abound Credit Union, any Kentucky resident over the age of 18 and living within 65 miles of Bowling Green was eligible to enter a piece of their original artwork created within the last two years. Monetary awards are given in ten categories as well as for Best of Show, the Purchase Award, the World's Greatest Studio Tour Merit Award, and the Artworks Merit Award.

Learn more.

Sonic Landscape
Music Artifacts Needed
 

Are you a collector of South-Central Kentucky's music history?

The Kentucky Museum needs your help with our upcoming exhibit! Sonic Landscape explores the diverse genres and styles that made our region - and its hub, Bowling Green - a site of musical exchange and collaboration during the 20th century. We are seeking artifacts, photographs, posters, documents, and other items related to musicians, venues, radio stations, and the general music scene of Warren, Barren, Allen, Simpson, Butler, Edmondson, Hart, and Metcalfe counties between the 1940s and 2010s. 

Learn more here.

 


Latest News

Kentucky Museum News Archive

 


 

 

 

Virtual Connections

 

Calendar of Events


Current Exhibitions

Support Our Work


 

 


Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.

 Last Modified 3/11/24