The Open Museums are situated in the Tefen, Tel-Hai and Omer industrial parks. Their location on the periphery, in the Galilee and in the Negev, is not coincidental; it is based on the belief long-held by Stef Wertheimer, the founder of both the industrial parks and the museums, that we must strive for equilibrium between center and periphery.
The Open Museums offer a unique combination of industry, art and heritage.
The permanent and temporary exhibitions at the Open Museums in Tefen and Omer feature the best of Israeli art. Tefen is also home to the German-Speaking Jewry Museum, to the Art of Industry Museum (which features an interactive exhibition titled "Seeds of Plastic") and to the Car Collection, which parallels the Car Collection at Omer.
The museum at Tel-Hai presents the best of Israeli and international photography, alongside a didactic exhibition about photographic technologies. This unique combination offers museum visitors an unusually rewarding experience. All temporary exhibitions are accompanied by research-based catalogues containing essays on art, art history and the philosophy of art.
In an age pervaded by the media and by virtual experiences, the museums offer visitors a range of direct, unmediated experiences that involve exposure to authentic exhibits. They encourage observation, learning, aesthetic appreciation and the acquisition of historical knowledge, which all come together to define the important term "Israeli culture."
The education departments active at the museums enable visitors to experience, understand and internalize the principles of industry, art and history and the possible intersections between them. The understanding of these intersections will hopefully accompany young students as well as adult visitors long after their visit to the Open Museums at Tefen, Tel-Hai and Omer.