From US 59, northbound or southbound, take the Shepherd Street exit. Travel north on Shepherd Street to West Alabama Street. Turn right on West Alabama Street. Travel 3/4 mile and cross Mandell Street. Parking for the museum is on the right, between Mandell and Mulberry Streets.

From Downtown or Midtown, take Main Street or Milam south and turn right on West Alabama Street. Travel one mile past Montrose Blvd. and cross Mulberry Street. Museum parking is on the left between Mulberry and Mandell Streets.

This belief in the power of art explains the value the Menil Collection places on the primacy of the artwork, the individual artist’s intention, and the viewer’s unmediated experience in the gallery. That experience includes the contemplative, intimate quality of space and light, and the restrained aesthetic of display. Viewers will also note the absence of explanatory wall texts, docent tours, and acoustic guides: the Menil believes that a viewer’s encounter with a work of art should be immediate and direct, not conditioned by others’ thoughts and opinions about the work.