RISD Museum

This is one of those categories we could confidently retire, since the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design — you know it as the RISD Museum — wins this honor every year. But you can't argue with the distinction: RISD's five buildings house 84,000 "objects of international significance" (including its iconic 12th-century wooden Buddha) and presents consistently engaging, genre-spanning exhibits. Let's go out on a limb and bestow the 2013 Best Museum award right now.

224 Benefit St, Providence | 401.454.6500 | risdmuseum.org