Belz Museum of Asiatic and Judaic Art

During a recent visit with The Daughter to the Belz Museum of Asiatic and Judaic Art on South Main Street in Downtown Memphis, I came across this lovely tea set and decided to share it for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's weekly T(ea) Tuesday gathering. Isn't it wonderful?

The entire museum is a treasure. I'll try to take you on a mini-tour to give you just a taste of our experience, but it must be personally experienced to be truly appreciated. The museum is located on the Main Street Mall just around the corner from my car's home-away-from-home -the Parking Can Be Fun garage. Here's the entrance:

You go in here, then you go down a flight of stairs to the gift shop/ticket booth. Admission is only $6 for adults. We saw the Judaic exhibit first, including the new Holocaust Memorial rooms. I wasn't able to get good photos in that section -the lighting, maybe? I didn't want to use a flash. There is a photo gallery at the web site showing some of the art in that collection. The Daughter was able to get a good shot of some of the portraits in the Holocaust exhibit:

All of the people whose portraits were on display when we went live here in Memphis. At some point they will begin rotating some of them to include folks who live in other areas of the state. Here's the sign explaining that display:

There are other related historical artifacts displayed, but I was particularly struck by these portaraits with their short biographies. There's a press release at the museum web site, which says, in part:

The Holocaust Memorial Gallery focuses on the struggles and triumphs of the survivors, refugees and liberators of the Holocaust of World War II. Working in conjunction with the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, the “Living On” portrait exhibit gives a face and a voice to the survivors, refugees, and liberators now living in Tennessee. Each person displayed reveals their own stories, and the stories of loved ones who did not survive to be heard. Other displays in the gallery include Jewish ghetto currency, photographs of Jews in concentration camps, sculptures and artwork, World War II information panels and timeline, and other personal memorabilia that provides insight into this dark period.

The art works in the Asiatic galleries were easier for me to photograph for some reason, and The Daughter got some good shots, too:

There is a short history of the museum here. There are other photos at their site. They offer guided tours with a boxed lunch for groups. The lovely woman in the gift shop says they get people who come to the museum from far away, including someone from the Smithsonian, who are very impressed with this collection; and she told us that only about 10% of Mr. Belz collection is on display here.

The I Love Memphis blog has a positive review and photos. Yelp gives it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Trip Advisor ranks it #6 of Memphis' 86 ranked attractions.

Amazing! We are fortunate here in Memphis to have such excellent and diverse museums!