Clay Center

Performing arts, art museum, and science centre

The Clay Center is the cultural anchor of downtown Charleston — a 240,000-square-foot complex on the riverfront combining an art museum, a hands-on science centre, a planetarium, and a 1,883-seat performance hall that hosts the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and touring shows. The art collection has a respectable holdings of American and Appalachian artists and a rotating programme of temporary exhibitions.

Children gravitate to the Avampato Discovery Museum on the upper floor, with its hands-on exhibits and the ElectricSky planetarium. Adults will find the art museum on the second level the better hour. Combined tickets cover both.

things to do museum
A story
The Clay Center was built in 2003 with money largely raised by Senator Robert Byrd from federal sources, in a city without a critical mass of philanthropic donors. It houses the Avampato Discovery Museum, the Juliet Art Museum, a 1,883-seat performance hall, and a planetarium — a striking concentration of culture for a state capital of its size.