International Museum of Art & Science

Nice small museum that focuses on art and science. This museum has rotating art and photography exhibits that change every 3 to 6 months. Many of the areas inside are interactive and are great for learning especially kids. Some of the areas are huge science play scapes. They have smaller rooms with live animals that are brought out to interact with the public. I saw several enclosed exhibits with rocks, minerals, and gems. I was impressed with science on a sphere theater. For large groups of kids they have an outdoor area with sculptures and picnic tables. Lastly they have a nice gift shop. I very much enjoyed the experience and exhibits here.

Great museum!! Very interesting displays, if you have little ones-they have lots of hands on interactive displays! I had never been here before, very peaceful. Snapped some pics of my favorite displays🫶🏼

Brought my daughter here and she had fun with the activities found throughout the museum. Spend around an hour here. Not much to see, very small.

IMAS is such a gem in the Rio Grande Valley! It’s the perfect place for families, kids, and anyone who enjoys hands-on learning and creativity. The exhibits are always engaging and well put together, and the staff is friendly and passionate about what they do. We love how they blend art, science, and culture in a way that’s both educational and fun. A must-visit spot in McAllen!

We come to the museum often and our son always enjoys his explorations here 🥰

I would recommend visiting the museum. It is very affordable and has nice exhibits. I visited during the Ella exhibition by Nour Kuri and Microscape tapestry exhibits and found so wonderful. I also really enjoyed looking at the animals in the Biolife room. It seemed like a great place for kids but a little less so for adults. Still very enjoyable. I loved the music tile wall they had and had a blast playing and figuring out all the sounds. I will say, however, that it felt very cavernous and empty in some spaces and feel like there could be a better use of space , dividers, and interactive experiences to give it a different feel. Regardless, I was very entertained and left feeling happy and satisfied. I look forward to future exhibitions.

Great for an easy, laid back outing for the family. Our son was totally engaged in just about every exhibit! Thank you IMAS for being an RGV treasure!

This was the first place we stopped in McAllen after lunch. It was honestly a lot smaller than we had anticipated, but packed with a lot of beautiful art and some geology. The science section is definitely geared toward children, which is very educational.

Such a neat little place! They have a great gift shop, and admission is beyond cheap! We lived the Frida exhibit when we went a few months ago. We will definitely have to check them out more often.

I stopped by here randomly today to kill time and I'm so glad I did. Different from most museums this is an educational museum so the atmosphere here is more toned down and the setup is simple. About the museum: -The science section is neat and they have a small collection of interesting animals to look at. -There are really beautiful artworks in the art gallery. I honestly didn't expect such well curated galleries here. About the staff: As for the staff...they were really welcoming and helpful. There was one staff in particular, Lisa, who was just so friendly and personable. She showed me their bearded dragon and took the time to teach me about them. Make sure to check them out!

A bit small for a museum, however, some exhibits were closed due to COVID. Most pieces of art had no explanation but did have a year and artist if it was known. A lot of the art was more current, 1970s to present time. The staff was very friendly and helpful!

Nice inexpensive experience. Staff was very friendly. Small but my kids enjoyed all the activities. Beautiful works of art all around. We were not able to see a portion of the museum though due to summer camps being held.

First time here since just moved to the valley. I was very impressed. Lots of indoor activities for kids -great docents ! All the exhibits were impressive. Please check it out if you've never been here.

They really do have great artwork. The imagined worlds exhibit is the most beautiful collection I have seen. I love the spaghetti painting, I can't tell you about it off the bat since it's been a while since I've seen it but it is gorgeous, if I could have it I would make it the center of attention. I love love LOVE work that shows food in a dramatic way, it's a perishable item that goes away and it's never seen again, but in paintings it's there forever, I love this painting I cannot tell you how much this painting means to me.

The entry fee is for a general adult is 8 dollars per person, but 5 per student. Obviously cheaper for kids, and young children. This business is mostly for kids as there is a huge play area, many stations, and activities. Which is very exciting because they give them fun tasks to work on while informing them. PLEASE READ! CHECK OUT THE ART!! The art building wasn't that large. But, I guarantee it's a SHORT AND SWEET ride. There was this security guard who informed us on all of the art pieces. This was my first time being in an art museum, I promise you each piece can surprise you, and will sincerely fascinate you! They also have a section for Hispanic culture (AND I DON'T WANT TO GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH BECAUSE THAT WILL TRULY RUIN THE EXPERIENCE)! Sadly, it came to an end. Afterwards, as an adult, there really wasn't much to do. But overall experience was good.

Thanks IMAS for disappointing 7 little girls by losing their pre paid registration (Oct 2018) for a Girl Scout Robotics event (Jan 2019) and then rudely telling us you can't accommodate us and that you have no room. Thanks for the follow up call with the apology, NOT. Shame on you. Hope you received all the the emails with registration confirmation and proof of payment. #IMAS #shameonyou #unprofessional. Would not recommend for group activities, workshops or other. Very disorganized and unprofessional.

It was fun pretty big also if your looking for a museum for your kids this will not do much very little things for kids to do but for older ones will get there attention liked the earth on a sphere they had very nice staff there and were very helpful other than that it was very nice

Do not come here with children. Actually, don't come here at all. It is boring with little thought put into activities or learning. They allow far too many people in without proper staffing. Their activities are not for children below 8 to 10 at all. They sell out of activities early. The lines are extremely long. It was just ... bad. Especially with a younger child. The best thing there was balls in a bucket where everyone had to fight for space to even play with those. Don't waste your money.

Went to IMAS museum for a field trip and I have say, this "museum" is nothing of the sort. IMAS has no place to even call itself a museum. It's a glorified day care. 1. Even though IMAS knew ahead of time how many kindergarteners we had, they still wasted so much time trying to separate the kids into groups of 36 or less since they can't have more than 36 kids per group. Wish we were told ahead of time. 2. We got a very inexperienced tour guide. She was nice, but had no idea how to handle the tour. 3. The big activity room was jam packed. Each section was taken up by other groups. There was a group of older kids from another school there taking up the water cycle activity. They arrived at IMAS before us and had been there for a while and their tour guide never got them to move on. Our poor kinder kids were waiting patiently in a line just staring at all the fun this older group was having. Sure, go ahead and let a bunch of older 3rd graders have all the time they want having fun, our eager 5 year olds can just stand and watch. Jeeze...... 4. Our kids actually got to do absolutely NOTHING in the activity room. They got to touch the sound wall for about a minute. I literally mean 1 minute. They were touching it and seconds later our tour guide told them to line up. 5. When our tour guide saw that standing around doing nothing wasn't going to move the other groups along, she lined us back up and took us to the stained glass exhibit. 5 year olds looking at stained glass......yeeeeeeaaahhhh........that works out...not. 6. After the glass exhibit we went to the science room where our tour guide attempted to do an experiment and failed. 3 times! 7. The science on a sphere was pointless. It was basically: Here's the earth. What do you see? Land, clouds, and oceans. The end. Really? The most exciting part of the day was the playground and the reptile room, which was still underwhelming. This place is just shameful. It's literally 2 short hall ways. One is the science one that for some reason has a painting room in it. It also has the reptile room, the lack-luster science on a sphere room, a sad experiment room complete with sad experiments and the activity room (which is really just a big playroom). The art hall has like 2 rooms I think. Actually, maybe just one room. There doesn't seem to be any permanent exhibits, no interactive learning exhibits. Nothing! There is nothing to learn. I was so upset after the field trip. The kids could've learned more watching a BBC documentary. If I'm being snobby, sorry, but when something is labeled as a museum, it sure as hell better have multiple learning opportunities, knowledgeable tour guides, and plenty of exhibits. This had none of those. I can't possibly in any way see how this place is good for all ages. No way a teenager or even a tween would have interest in this place. I'll leave with this: I know this is not the employees or manager's fault so my apologies if this review hurts you. IMAS is not to blame. This place NEEDS funding big time. McAllen is a very interesting growing city, but if no one invests in it, the citizens miss out on some amazing experiences. I really hope and wish that this city gets what it deserves. A big amazing beautiful museum with lots to offer for ALL ages. I hope that day comes soon.

I have attended here off and on with my family throughout the years (even as members years ago) and I have to say our most recent visit was depressing. The science side of the museum is extremely lackluster now. From the drab grey walls to the lack of exhibits, it's a sad decline to the museum. The lab area has very little of interest anymore as well. For a growing city, it is such a shame to have such a disappointing museum in our town. I would be embarrassed to bring out of town guests here. The art side has improved with more exhibits to offer at least. I have seen the stained glass exhibit here several times but still find it stunning. I hope somehow with the Valley supposedly aiming to interest local youth in science, can re-vamp this place. Hopefully they can move past the issues within the company and get this place moving forward.

Myeh. Not much to it. There was little known about the older art. If you're really bored, only costs a dollar.

This place offers a much needed indoor play space for children. I think it has the potential to evolve as other museums thinking of children have. Personally I would love to see an area similar to the New Children's Museum of San Diego here in the RGV, may be someday.

The museum is no longer free. There is charge of $7 for adults and a $4 charge for children for admission. I hadn't been here in years so I decided to bring the kids for a visit. Wow. You can't see any part of the museum for free. =:o ( I wonder if the museum is now only privately funded.

Was very disappointed when we took our son here. There is basically one room with some toys. A lot of the playground outside was broken.

I've been at the Museum for 2 events and 2 other times. The Art exhibits right now have variety. I would not have known about these artists otherwise, and I like that. The events were very well planed: good crowd (young people), good brief speeches, good food and wine, the chance to interact with the artists. I didn't take my children to the Science part (they are grown up), but I visited and the children were playing and moving from exhibit to exhibit. It's worth the trip (55 min.) for me.

This is a gem. The science on a sphere is breath taking and our son really enjoyed himself thoroughly. The art part of the museum was closed when we went because they were having a beer fest sort of thing the next day, so we got in half off. We would have paid double just for the science part. It's not huge, but it's very thorough and honestly, the science on a sphere had us captivated.

Membership is worth it! My son and I come here very often. They always have great stuff for children of all ages here. I would work here if I could! Just wish they added more and changed up the large indoor discovery room more often! But otherwise they always have crafts set up for the children! The staff has always been friendly and they keep the bathrooms and the museum very clean :)