Spring Arts Guide: Museum shows

THE FRANKLIN Institute opens a whole new wing June 14, and there's plenty more to explore, museumwise, in Philly between now and that red-letter date. Get yer history here . . . and your art, your natural science, your anthropology, your baseball and even your Dowager Countess' closet.

Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American, opened March 13. Already got a sinking feeling this ain't the Phils' year? No worries. This altogether inspiring homegrown exhibit reminds you it's not about winning or losing, it's about how our national pastime became a metaphor - if not a means - for assimilating into the American mainstream.

Objects and photos from big-name, barrier-breaking ballers Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax and Lipman Pike, latter-day diamond saints Joe DiMaggio, Roberto Clemente and Ichiro Suzuki, and even lesser-known Little Leagues star in this seasonal show. "Old Jews Talking Baseball," a special add-on program this Tuesday (7 p.m., $15-$18), brings in Dan Okrent and John Thorn to schmooze on their favorite subject.

National Museum of American Jewish History, 5th and Market streets, through Oct. 26, $11-$12, (free for kids 12 and under and active military), 215-923-3811, nmajh.org.

Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello, April 9-Oct. 19. Over his lifetime, the author of the Declaration of Independence claimed more than 600 people as his property. Sound . . . hypocritical? This exhibit, inspired by the six enslaved families confined to Thomas Jefferson's famed Virginia plantation home, contains nearly 300 artifacts that explore both sides.

National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., $8-$14.50 (free for kids 3 and under and active military), 215-409-6700, constitutioncenter.org.

Birds of Paradise, May 3-Sept. 1. Look out, Mummers. The 39 spectacular avian species on display in the photos, film and specimens of this traveling National Geographic exhibition are upping the ante on spectacular plumage and complicated dance moves. Sans predators in their native New Guinea home (north of Australia, east of Indonesia), these brilliant birds have evolved into the animal kingdom's most fanciful, fabulous living sculptures.

Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, $13-$15 (under 3 free), 215-299-1000, ansp.org.

Psychylustro, starting May 16. Mural Arts' latest art-in-transit series gives passengers on select Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and SEPTA commuter-rail routes a reason to glance up from their devices as they rumble between 30th Street and North Philly stations. Contemporary artist Katharina Grosse's bright globby installations will also be glimpseable from pedestrian and highway bridges along the tracks.

Northeast Rail Corridor tracks (visible from Northeast Corridor, Atlantic City Line, Chestnut Hill West and West Trenton line trains), including two installations near the zoo and five others farther north. Continues until nature and the elements have their way with the art.

Treasures from Korea, through May 26. It's the first full-scale American exhibition devoted to art of Korea's Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), and our museum's got it first - before it moves on to L.A. and Houston. Ogle painted screens, scrolls, furniture, costumes, ritual wares - and a 40-foot-tall Buddhist banner that's a Korean national treasure.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, through May 26, $14-$20 (under 12 free), 215-763-8100, philamuseum.org.

Your Brain, opens June 14. If only I had a brain, said the Franklin Institute - and now will it ever! The institute's newest, biggest permanent exhibit opens in a fancy new wing, promising even more whiz-bang for your science-museum-going buck. Ponder what goes on inside your skull at 75 interactive stations (including brain teasers) designed to open visitors' minds to the latest in neuroscience.

Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., $14-$16.50 (under 3 free), 215-448-1200, fi.edu.

Costumes of Downton Abbey, through Jan. 4, 2015. Forty costumes from the hit PBS show visit the upper-crusty 175-room former estate of Henry Francis du Pont, home to some 250 upstairs and downstairs personalities of its veddy own in the 1920s. The exhibit is staged using theatrical sets and lighting, video clips, images from fashion books and magazines, and period photos from Winterthur itself.

Winterthur, 5105 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, Del., $5-$20 (under 2 free), timed ticket required for exhibit, 302-888-4600, winterthur.org.

Native American Voices, opened March 1. Hundreds of new and old objects - pottery, dolls, jewelry, textiles, musical instruments, cradleboards, shields, head dresses and more - help the Penn Museum tell the story of self-governing Nations across North America. Interactive stations add audio and video commentary. A teacher's guide offers activities to keep kids engaged, and thoughtful before-you-go do's and don'ts (items of traditional clothing are "regalia," not "costumes") that parents and Scout leaders will appreciate, too.

Penn Museum, 3260 South St., $10-15 (under 6 free), 215-898-4000, penn.museum/nav.