Memphis Art Museum opens Dec. 6: free day, hours, parking

Last checked Oct. 23, 2026. Facts come from the Memphis Art Museum’s own Grand Opening Day listing, hours and admission page, visitor FAQs, directions and its June 17 announcement. This page will be updated when the museum publishes the opening-day schedule and parking rates.

Yes, it is on: the Memphis Art Museum opens Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026, at 55 S. Front St. downtown, with a free Grand Opening Day. The museum is the new home and new name of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, which closed in Overton Park on Sept. 27. Admission is free for Shelby County residents, for good. For questions, call Visitor Services at 901-544-6200.

The essentials

• Opening: Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026; Grand Opening Day is free
• Address: 55 S. Front St., at Union Avenue, next to Cossitt Library
• Admission: free for Shelby County residents with ID; $25 for other adults
• Hours from Dec. 6: Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday to Monday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Tuesday and Wednesday
• Parking: on-site garage beneath the museum; rates not yet published
• Visitor Services: 901-544-6200

What is confirmed and what is still to come

Grand Opening Day, Sunday, Dec. 6

The museum calls it a day of free public celebration: gallery tours, live music and performances, family activities and the first look inside the building. It is listed as an all-day event on the museum’s calendar. The museum’s regular Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; we will add the opening-day timetable when it is published.

Who gets in free

Admission is free forever for Shelby County residents, paid for by an anonymous donor who is a former AutoZone employee, the museum said when it announced the opening date. That covers Memphis, Bartlett, Germantown, Lakeland, Millington, Arlington and Collierville and the unincorporated communities, including Cordova and Whitehaven. Visitors are asked to show government-issued ID.

Everyone else pays, according to the admission page:

That means visitors from Southaven, Horn Lake and Olive Branch, about 11 to 13 miles south in Mississippi, and from West Memphis, Arkansas, pay the regular price.

Hours

From Dec. 6 the galleries keep these hours, the museum says. The restaurant, cafe and store may differ.

What will be on view

The opening program has 20 exhibitions. The main one is Making Beauty: Hooks Brothers Studio, 1907-1984, more than 150 photographs from the Black-owned Memphis studio that photographed the city’s African American community for nearly 80 years, presented with the National Civil Rights Museum. Other opening shows include Medieval Bodies, Design, Interrupted, Rooted: Global Gardens and Their Communities, Speaking in Shapes: The Language of Geometric Abstraction and Things to Come: Time, Technology, and the Future.

The building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron with Memphis firm archimania, has 123,500 square feet, a 50,000-square-foot rooftop sculpture garden and a 10,000-square-foot central courtyard named Hyde Square. Much of it is free public space, the museum says.

Getting there and parking

The museum fills a city block at Front Street and Union Avenue, steps from the Mississippi River. The main visitor entrance is on Front Street.

• Parking garage: on-site and beneath the museum, entered from Riverside Drive at Monroe Avenue. Rates have not been posted; members get a discount.
• From I-40 westbound: take Exit 1 for Riverside Drive, then turn left on Monroe Avenue into the garage, the museum says.
• From I-55 northbound: take Exit 30 for Union Avenue and head west about a mile to Front Street.
• Bikes: racks on Monroe Plaza, between the museum and Cossitt Library.
• Street work: Front Street between Union and Monroe avenues, the museum’s own block, is closed through Dec. 1 for streetscape improvements, according to the Orpheum Theatre Group’s traffic notice.

Plan around the marathon. The St. Jude Memphis Marathon is the day before, Saturday, Dec. 5, and closes many downtown streets, including Front Street and Riverside Drive, in stages; see our St. Jude Memphis Marathon page. Downtown parking options are on our getting around page, and any lane closures will be on road construction and closures.

The same weekend

• Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s Magic of Memphis, its holiday concert with choirs and Dancing Santas, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Cannon Center (MSO calendar).
• The Great Gatsby closes its run at the Orpheum on Dec. 6 (Orpheum).

More on our arts and exhibitions this month, holiday lights and Christmas events and Christmas parade pages.

What this means for you

• Shelby County residents: bring a driver’s license or other government ID, and entry is free on opening day and every day after.
• The museum is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so plan a weekday visit for Monday, Thursday or Friday.
• Watch for opening-week tickets this fall; we will add the on-sale date here.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Memphis Art Museum open?

Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026, with a free Grand Opening Day of gallery tours, live music and family activities, according to the museum.

Is the Memphis Art Museum free?

Yes for Shelby County residents, permanently, with government-issued ID. Other adults pay $25; adults 55 and up and college students $23; ages 5 to 17 $22; children 4 and under, active-duty military and members get in free.

Where is the Memphis Art Museum?

55 S. Front St. at Union Avenue in downtown Memphis, next to Cossitt Library. The main entrance is on Front Street, and an on-site parking garage sits beneath the building.

Is the Brooks Museum still open in Overton Park?

No. The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art closed in Overton Park on Sept. 27, 2026. Memphis Art Museum is its new name and downtown home, with the same collection.

What are the Memphis Art Museum’s hours?

From Dec. 6: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, and closed Tuesday and Wednesday.