Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

The building itself makes the argument. I.M. Pei designed the Johnson Museum so its fifth floor cantilevers over an open sculpture garden — a narrow tower and bridge configuration that critics have compared to a giant sewing machine — while preserving unobstructed views of Cayuga Lake from the north and west. That tension between formal audacity and contextual restraint earned the American Institute of Architects Honor Award in 1975. Inside: more than 40,000 works spanning six millennia, including two windows from Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin D. Martin House. Admission is free.