Entry No. 32 — the Memphis file — filed under: jade
Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art
Jack and Marilyn Belz wandered into an Asian art gallery in Los Angeles in 1968 and never really stopped; the museum opened in 1998 as the Peabody Place Museum and took the family name in 2007. About 1,000 objects fill 14,000 square feet on the concourse level below 119 S Main — jade carvings, Qing dynasty work, tapestries and furniture in the Imperial Retreat and Tusk galleries, plus Russian lacquer boxes, scholar's rocks and a Judaic section. Adult admission is six dollars, students four, under five free. Photography is fine in the galleries; movie and professional video cameras are not. You reach all of it by taking the elevators near the first-floor security desk down a level, which is the part visitors never expect.
→ Three more unusual museums & collections in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
Jack Belz — chairman and CEO of Belz Enterprises, the family firm behind the Peabody Hotel — and his wife Marilyn wandered into an Asian art gallery in Los Angeles in 1968 and started buying. By the museum's own account they kept it up for decades with no institutional plan whatsoever. The idea surfaced only in 1995, when Jack agreed to lend part of the collection to a temporary show at the Pink Palace, mounted as a companion to the Wonders exhibition Imperial Tombs of China then running at the Cook Convention Center. A foundation followed, and in 1998 the collection opened to the public as the Peabody Place Museum. It took the family name in January 2007.
It began as three small rooms and now runs to 14,000 square feet and close to 1,000 objects across three permanent galleries: the Main Gallery with its Judaic Section, the Tusk Gallery, and the Imperial Retreat. Locally it gets called the Jade Museum, because jade sculpture is the through-line, and the Asian holdings concentrate on the Qing dynasty, China's last, 1644 to 1911. Jack Belz's own welcome note lists the rest without apology — Judaica, Russian lacquer boxes, contemporary glass, Italian mosaics, mineral specimens, scholar's rocks. Several Judaic pieces were commissioned from artists the Belzes knew personally, and one is Jack Belz's own work. The Holocaust Memorial Gallery has a guided tour of its own.
The setting is the strangest part of the whole arrangement. Peabody Place was the Belz family's eight-block downtown redevelopment; its enclosed mall opened in 2001 with a 22-screen cinema and a Tower Records, lost to the suburbs, and closed in February 2012, after which the shell was converted to office space. The museum simply stayed where it was, on the concourse level underneath. A serious Qing collection now sits one floor below a lobby that gives away nothing.
What it's like
The entrance is what throws people. 119 South Main is a street-level lobby with a security desk, and the museum is a level below it, reached by one of the two elevators beside that desk. Downstairs, 14,000 square feet open into three windowless galleries, which is flattering to jade. Admission is $6 for adults, and the last ticket sells an hour before close, so a 4 p.m. Saturday arrival is a real visit rather than a courtesy one. Photography is fine in the galleries; movie and professional video cameras are not. It is wheelchair accessible and strollers are welcome, though staff would like you to keep hold of small children — there is a great deal of sharp, heavy, expensive stone at knee height.
The move: Buy the last tickets of the day around 3:30 on a Saturday or Sunday, split at the door, and each pick the single object you'd walk out with if the alarms were off. Compare picks in the Imperial Retreat gallery, then argue it out over dinner two blocks up South Main.
📍 Before you go Wed–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat–Sun 12–5pm, closed Monday and Tuesday; the last ticket is sold an hour before close, so 4pm is your real cutoff. $6 adults, $5 seniors, $4 students, free under 5. Enter at street level on Main and take one of the two elevators by the security desk down to the concourse — the whole museum is wheelchair accessible and strollers are allowed. Metered spots, lots and garages sit between Peabody Place, Main, Gayoso and S Fourth; the Main Street trolley stops at Beale. Groups need advance reservations at 901-523-2787, and the museum does not do appraisals or accept walk-in donations.
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 119 S Main St, Concourse Level, Memphis, TN 38103
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- A. Schwab / Beale Street Hoodoo History and Folklife Museum — Barely two blocks away on Beale, and it keeps going after the Belz turns out its lights at 5 — imperial jade first, then a third-floor hoodoo curio gallery.
- The Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange — A few blocks north on Union: another one-subject downtown museum installed in a room that used to be something else entirely, and easy to fit in the same afternoon.
- Earnestine & Hazel's — Half a mile down the Main Street trolley line, for when a 5 p.m. museum close needs somewhere to go: Qing dynasty at four, Soul Burger at seven.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
When is it open, and what does admission cost?
Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. $6 adults, $5 seniors, $4 students, free under 5. The last ticket is sold an hour before closing, so 4 p.m. is the real cutoff.
How do I actually find the entrance?
Go in at street level at 119 S. Main and take one of the two elevators next to the security desk down to the Concourse Level. Nothing about the sidewalk suggests a museum is under it.
Where do I park, and can I get there by trolley?
There are metered spots, lots and garages between Peabody Place and Main and between Gayoso Avenue and South Fourth, all patrolled by security and the Blue Suede Brigade. The MATA Main Street trolley line stops at Beale Street Station, a block or so away.
Is it accessible?
Yes — the two first-floor elevators reach the whole museum, and strollers are permitted. ADA-compliant tours for visitors with visual or hearing impairments are still in development, and no non-English tours are offered at present. Groups need advance reservations at 901-523-2787.
Can I take photos, or bring a piece in to be appraised?
Photography is permitted in the galleries at the museum's discretion; movie and professional video cameras are prohibited without special arrangement. The museum does not conduct appraisals and is not currently accepting art donations or purchases.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-08-26