Museum of Arts and Sciences
An exceptional institution for a town of Daytona’s size, this humongous complex features several museums, including the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, home to the largest collection of Florida art in the world (it features a rotating collection of 2,600 Florida-themed oil and watercolor paintings by such big names as Thomas Hart Benton, John James Audubon, and N.C. Wyeth). As important is the Cuban Foundation Museum, with paintings acquired in 1956, when Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista donated his collection to the city. And for pop culture enthusiasts there’s the Root Family Museum which has the collection of the late Chapman S. Root, founder of the Coca-Cola empire; among the memorabilia are the mold for the original Coke bottle and the Root family’s two private railroad cars.
But wait, there’s more! The North Wing features permanent collections of American, African and Chinese art; international decorative arts; weaponry from around the planet; and (a favorite) the Helene B. Roberson Visible Storage Building. On the science side there’s a planetarium which presents 30 minute shows of what the night sky will look like on the date of your visit; a hands-on children’s museum explaining the natural world; and the skeleton of a 13-foot-tall and a 130,000-year-old giant ground sloth, among other wonders. For nature lovers, MOAS just happens to be on a 90-acre Tuscawilla Nature Preserve that features over 1/2 mile of boardwalk nature trails and learning stations that was closed as of this writing for enhancements that would assure long-term sustainability. The museum also displays new temporary exhibits bimonthly. Whew!
An exceptional institution for a town of Daytona’s size, this humongous complex features several museums, including the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, home to the largest collection of Florida art in the world (it features a rotating collection of 2,600 Florida-themed oil and watercolor paintings by such big names as Thomas Hart Benton, John James Audubon, and N.C. Wyeth). As important is the Cuban Foundation Museum, with paintings acquired in 1956, when Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista donated his collection to the city. And for pop culture enthusiasts there’s the Root Family Museum which has the collection of the late Chapman S. Root, founder of the Coca-Cola empire; among the memorabilia are the mold for the original Coke bottle and the Root family’s two private railroad cars.
But wait, there’s more! The North Wing features permanent collections of American, African and Chinese art; international decorative arts; weaponry from around the planet; and (a favorite) the Helene B. Roberson Visible Storage Building. On the science side there’s a planetarium which presents 30 minute shows of what the night sky will look like on the date of your visit; a hands-on children’s museum explaining the natural world; and the skeleton of a 13-foot-tall and a 130,000-year-old giant ground sloth, among other wonders. For nature lovers, MOAS just happens to be on a 90-acre Tuscawilla Nature Preserve that features over 1/2 mile of boardwalk nature trails and learning stations that was closed as of this writing for enhancements that would assure long-term sustainability. The museum also displays new temporary exhibits bimonthly. Whew!
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