Inside the Cleveland Museum of Art Credit: Via CMA
Cleveland is once again a finalist in one of USA Today’s “10 Best” contests, this time with the Cleveland Museum of Art in the running. We all know it’s one of the greatest treasures of art in America, the bonus, of course, being that it’s free. It’s high time we ring out the vote and give it some more recognition beyond the borders of Northeast Ohio.

Twenty venues in total are vying to be named a Best Free Museum in the country, including The Frye Art Museum (Seattle), Getty Center (Los Angeles), Baltimore Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Museum of Art and more. As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the CMA is in seventh place and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, is in sixth.

You can vote as many times as you want, but can only vote once a day until the contest ends August 29.

Want to vote? Send in your ballots here.

This article appears in Aug 3-9, 2016.

5 replies on “Vote for the Cleveland Museum of Art in USA Today’s ‘Best Free Museum in the U.S.’ Contest”

  1. They now have the second-worst atrium in the country, just ahead of a few major airports like O’Hare and JFK, and right behind the Town Center indoor mall in Boca Raton, FL.. My wife and I call their cold, sterile, useless atrium the Boca Mall…every time I go there, I expect to see revolving platforms with Ford and Chevy trucks on display.

    I still miss the trees and the jazz and the water features and the sculptures. And especially the live music (mostly jazz) on Wednesdays and Fridays in the summertime, under the trees and the stars and the twinkling lights. The food was good, too.

    I will never forgive CMA for replacing that wonderful, classy ambiance with the dirty glass and the vast stone wasteland of Boca Mall. What a joke: the yupster Mix, the overpriced snack bar, and far too few chairs and tables. So why in the hell should I ever be expected to vote for them?

    Chuckles the Clown

  3. The mall is a huge part of the museum, and it’s the elephant in the gallery. Every time I have to walk through it, I feel like I’m late for my plane.

    Sure, I’d like to see the CMA finish on top in a national poll, but this is the only way I can pay them back for what they took away from me and my wife and many other like-minded (as in nostalgic for food, jazz, water, sky, and trees) Clevelanders.

    Therefore, I will continue to vote for other venues.

    Kinda feels like the election we are currently facing in another couple of months. Voting against something, rather than actually voting for something else. I will at least keep my votes in Ohio…and .vote early and often for the Air Force Museum.

    Chuckles the Clown

  4. So who won? Did CMA hold onto its lead and finish first…or did they choke?

    Chuckles the Clown

  5. CMA was firmly entrenched in first place for most of August…but Cleveland choked and finished in second place.

    A last-minute flurry of veteran votes gave the crown to the National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center, at Fort Benning, GA.

    Chuckles the Clown

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