Doors Open 2024

The world-renowned Bata Shoe Museum is North America’s only museum dedicated to exploring the history and cultural significance of footwear. Designed by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama, this award-winning five-story structure features a flagship showcase called All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages, thematically changing exhibitions, a retail shop, and a private vault that protects the worlds most comprehensive collection of nearly 15,000 shoes and shoe-related artifacts. The shape of the museum was inspired by a shoebox, with the roof acting as a slightly ajar lid. Visitors can see several unique touches throughout the building, including a sole-shaped front desk, a majestic art-glass installation by Lutz Haufschild, and iconic bronze features by Canadian sculptor Dora de Pédery-Hunt.

Take a fascinating, self-guided journey through 4,500 years of shoes presented across four exhibitions. Current exhibitions include Exhibit A: Investigating Crime and Footwear, Dressed to Impress: Footwear and Consumerism in the 1980s, In Bloom: Flowers and Footwear, and All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages.

Learn more about the Bata Shoe Museum’s architecture here.

Advance tickets will not be available for Doors Open. Please anticipate long wait times. Admission is not guaranteed.