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Galleries in Michigan

There is some overlap be­tween art museums and art galleries. A museum can have exhibits that are up for a short period of time, while a gallery can have a per­ma­nent collection, some of which may or may not be dis­played somewhere that is ac­ces­si­ble for visitors to see.

To make the distinction on this website, I go by what is the main attraction for people to come to that place. If people come to the place to see items from the per­ma­nent collection, which they expect to be in the place for indefinite periods of time, then it's a museum. If people come to the place mainly for exhibits of artwork that is different, or at least distinct, from what they've seen in that place before, then it's a gallery.

There is also the issue of galleries in places that are mainly for another purpose, like a coffee shop or a book­store that happns to also show art. Al­though I have not been com­plete­ly consistent on this, the criterion is that if the exhibition space is sep­a­rate from the space for the main purpose of the place, then it counts as a gallery.

For example, if a restaurant has a separate room in which to show artwork, even if cus­tom­ers can take food and drink into that room, it counts as a gallery. But if the artwork is shown in the same room where customers place or­ders and are served, that room does not count as a gallery.