The Year Ahead
National Geographic recently published its list of the world’s best places to visit in 2026, including such notable destinations as Akagera National Park in Rwanda; Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, soon to host many of next year’s Winter Olympic events; and Beijing’s Central Axis, a stretch of ancient buildings and gardens recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List. It also included Pittsburgh—one of only four U.S. cities to make the list!
The primary reason the magazine gives for listing Pittsburgh is the city’s rich cultural life: “Steel mills once shaped outsiders’ whole impressions of Pittsburgh, but today the city increasingly defines itself by embracing the venerable cultural institutions that industrial prosperity helped build.” And the first example of the institutions the magazine mentions is Carnegie Museums.
In particular, the publication notes the May 2026 opening of the 59th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art’s signature exhibition of contemporary art and the longest-running exhibition of international art in North America. In this newest incarnation, some of its featured artists will be debuting new commissions and collaborative projects at locations across the city, including Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Mattress Factory, and Kamin Science Center.
Throughout 2026, Carnegie Museum of Natural History will be celebrating its vast collections with its newest exhibition, The Stories We Keep: Bringing the World to Pittsburgh. The museum will also reprise two weekend festivals—NatureFest in March, and DinoFest in June—where visitors can interact with experts from the museum and numerous partner organizations.
In July, after opening its new Sports360 exhibition this December, Kamin Science Center will launch Science of Speed. In this new exhibition located in the former SportsWorks building, visitors will learn about the science behind high-performance cars and have an opportunity—for the first time in a museum!—to get behind the wheel of a racing go-kart.
Also in July, The Andy Warhol Museum will welcome home Pittsburgh-born ceramic artist and sculptor Sharif Bey with an exhibition that explores the role communities play in inspiring artists and shaping their artistic practice. Bey spent much of his youth exploring the galleries at Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History. In 2021, Carnegie Museum of Art presented a fascinating exhibition of works that were inspired by his early excavations of the museums’ collections and actually incorporated material from the Museum of Natural History.
We hope you will enjoy the experiences your museums have in store for you in 2026. And we look forward to welcoming those out-of-town visitors who we feel confident will concur with the wisdom of National Geographic—including some of the many visitors (estimated at more than 700,000) who will be coming to Pittsburgh in April for the 2026 NFL Draft!
With best regards,
Steven Knapp
President and Chief Executive Officer
Carnegie Museums
