Culture in Birmingham

That Birmingham is the hub of a rich Alabama arts scene doesn’t surprise you if you’ve toured our Museum of Art, attended a pop concert in one of several acoustically-super venues, heard celebrity classical musicians in our world-class concert hall, or met best-selling authors such as Ann Rice at one of our literary festivals. That’s Culture with a capital C!

That we’re a microcosm of world cultures is less known: with long-time communities of Italian, Greek, Lebanese, and German ancestry, now we’re welcoming Russians, South Africans, Kenyans, Mexicans, Indians, and a mosaic of other heritages. This synergy brings great restaurants, great music, great visual arts, great ethnic festivals – and creative problem-solvers and entrepreneurs. Many of our new citizens live right downtown in one of the elegant lofts transformed from our historic buildings.

Nature and Art change and are changed by the cultures of Birmingham. The metro area marks the terminus of the gorgeous Appalachian Mountains, winding from Maine to one of the finest state parks in the U.S., Oak Mountain. Inside the city, take a nature break in parks dating from the earliest by America’s great landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to the emerging Railroad Reservation Park. Stroll year-round in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, a mosaic of native woods and gardens, formal landscapes, rose arbor, conservatory plants, and Japanese Garden.

Back to the future – of art, that is: the Museum of Art displays large collections of African and Mesoamerican arts, Oriental art, Native American arts, American landscape paintings, French and English fine and decorative arts – and the world’s largest collection of Wedgwood outside the U.K. Widely supported by people of all ages and backgrounds, this and other museums both reflect and works as catalysts for our changing culture.

Music: Pop to Prokofiev

Birmingham’s fame as a city of music grows as it changes, in 2004 with “American Idol” Ruben Studdard and a year later with 2005 runner up Bo Bice. Changing the music scene to international, our newest citizens include one of the hottest pianists on the classical circuit, Yakov Kasman from Russia. Yakov’s Rachmaninoff rocks!

With one of world’s most acoustically-ideal halls, the Alys Robinson Stephens Center pops as well as symphonic and chamber concerts, many ahead of the creative curve in their genres. Recent visiting artists include Cassandra Wilson, Bowfire, Randy Newman, Emanuel Ax, and the Los Angeles Piano Quartet. Musical and other events happen at the Civic Center multiplex.

Calling the Jemison Hall home, the Alabama Symphony offers several classical and pops series year-round, many with famous guest artists. Our new Music Director and Conductor Justin Brown, one of Britain’s leading young conductors, has led the London Symphony Orchestra, among others, since his debut in 1996.

Birmingham’s changes are chronicled in America’s only native art form, jazz, and its roots still grow here. The Jazz Hall of Fame heralds the state’s blues, jazz, and swing native sons and daughters and entices their soul mates to perform here. The informal music scene expands all the time, too. Hear and see the latest and greatest musicians in nightclubs, coffee houses, and restaurants.

Visual Arts

Besides the Birmingham Museum of Art, you can find specialty museums and galleries to feed your cultural fancy. Repeat visits are musts to take in the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Sloss Furnaces, the Birmingham Public Library and Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens. Changing exhibits of contemporary art begin with gallery opening receptions, where you can meet the artists – and take home a treasure.

Theater and Film

Close enough for an evening’s drive, the Alabama Shakespeare Festivalis one of the few professional repertory companies in North America. Birmingham’s own theater scene continues its dual tradition of award-winning avant-garde and mainstream productions. Founded in 1947, the Birmingham Children’s Theater, a professional company, entertains over 45,000 children per year with current hits such as The Lion King. The Birmingham Broadway Series brings Broadway productions to adults and student groups.

Change is constant at the old Alabama Theater, too – events range from the Black Crowes and the Capitol Steps to silent films accompanied by Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. Showcasing science, the McWane Center brings the latest IMAX films. All ages enjoy its special hands-on science programs, including a space mission simulation.

The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival draws thousands each September to experience the latest art films and documentaries along with vintage flicks in compatible surroundings throughout downtown Birmingham. Nineteenth-century life comes to life at American Village in Montevallo.

Our Culture is Concentrated

Unlike most cities with thriving cultural scenes, you can easily access Birmingham’s by car, and once you arrive, you can find parking, usually no- to low-cost. Birmingham has two hubs of restaurants and culture: downtown and Five Points South.