UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio TX

Free museum but you can give the donation you want.you must have time to be here and enjoy all the Texas history…
It’s amazing! I was for 4 hours here!

It was a free museum that excepts donations for your admission. Very interesting museum. Definitely recommend if your going to San Antonio.

A Smithsonian affiliate. Great history of Texan cultures. A lot more info on some cultures than others. Would highly recommend making this a part of the visit to San Antonio.

What a great historical journey, discovering all about the many, many people who have found their place in Texas.

I spent lots of years here earning my Bachlors and Masters. It’s a great historical lesson into the past! You will love the experience!

Really enjoy visiting here. Always have interesting exhibits. Can’t wait to see what they add.

Recommend you allow a bit of extra time for reading and examining the objects from so many cultures, and don't leave your reading glasses at home.

I Like visiting this museum because people can learn about different cultures, visiting the museums are like visiting the libraries because they are both fun and educational, so this museum doesn't need to be relocated, let people visit the museum so that they to can learn about different cultures.

Awesome place to take your little ones, I've been coming since I was in elementary.
Take away all those tablets, social media, and video games from your kids and bring them to learn a little something.

Visited again after 4.5 years since first visit. Very little had changed. The museum needs some serious updates. Few interactive exhibits - main visitor experience consists of reading large paragraphs of text. What's there is interesting but they could do a better job of making it more engaging. Empty on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Amazing museum, truly a wonderful representation of the many cultures and the history of Texas.

I wish I learned about this place upon moving here. Thoughtful and beautiful displays of all of Texas culture. This place need to be a destination if your visiting San Antonio.

I went to this museum as a teen and I loved it then, I enjoyed it even more now.
While I think some of the areas they are updating are great, a couple of the things they have given space to disappointed me, not because they are bad, but simply because they weren't in keeping with the museum and celebrating culture, but political causes.

My experience exploring the vast amount of different exhibitions here was very informative and fun! There’s so much to learn about the different cultures that make Texas a unique melting pot that no other place can match. The exhibits themselves are rich in all kinds of information, graphics, items, interactive videos, collections, and other forms of mediums that make the I. T. C.a must visit.

As a former docent and volunteer with connections and emotional baggage tied to this venerable institution it is difficult to evaluate and review this museum fairly and objectively. The very first time I ever walked through the heavy glass doors of this museum I was a child holding my grandmother's hand. The occasion was the 1968 HemisFair World's Fair in San Antonio, Texas. I did not get to see all of the museum in 1968 and I made up for it by visiting it many times as adult and volunteering to work there in 2005. I have always enjoyed visiting the museum and I enjoyed my volunteer work there. The staff was always friendly and seemed to appreciate my being there. However, as the museum aged and the management changed there are many reasons to be concerned about its future. The Institute of Texan Cultures was created to be the Texas Museum and the stronghold of Texas history. Frankly it has failed in that mission and has conceded that mission to a museum in Austin, Texas. With that failure the management and operation of the Institute was given away to the University of Texas San Antonio. You would think that a institution of higher learning would have the ability to operate a museum but obviously that is not the case. The Institute of Texan Cultures is operated now like an illegitimate child to UTSA's primary mission of running a junior college. As such, the Institute receives more bureaucracy now than support. It is a convenient and luxurious dumping ground for school bureaucrats who don't contribute much to the the college's primary mission but can't be fired and replaced. Probably one of the easiest jobs in the world is to be an Institute manager. Because you don't have to do much. And they don't. Consequently the exhibits at the Institute of Texan Cultures tend to remain rather static and known. They are very good. Don't get me wrong. But they are product of the hard work of managers and docents who have worked at and for the Institute of Texan Cultures for the last 50 years. Not the dullards in charge now.

My 3 and 5 year old lived this place! The Back 40 was a huge hit! Thank you to the docents on site who were ready to show and explain things to my kids.

LOVED IT! So much wonderful to see and read all the information. Staff was very helpful and kind.