More than 2,000 museums — showcases of fine arts, science, history, nature and more, including dozens of children's museums — are offering free admission to active-duty, National Guard and Reserve members and their families this summer.
From Washington, D.C.'s Phillips Collection to the University of Hawaii's Lyon Arboretum, museums across the country are participating in sixth year of the Blue Star Museums program, which runs from Memorial Day, May 25, through Labor Day, Sept. 7.
Military ID card holders and up to five family members can visit the participating museums free of charge. Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among museums across the country, the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Defense Department.
Last summer, more than 700,000 troops and family members visited museums in the program.
"The response has been so far beyond anything we ever imagined it to be," said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families, according to an announcement of an event at the Phillips Collection launching this year's program. "Museum-going enhances resilience, it broadens your perspective, it opens your mind to beauty and ideas and things that you might not have known before."
The participating museums are in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. Not every museum in the nation participates, but more are expected to join through the summer.
Museums new to the program this year include the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida; the Duluth Children's Museum in Minnesota; the Space Station Museum in Novato, California; and the Lyon Arboretum at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The Lyon Arboretum, for example, normally requests a $5 donation per person for admission.
Marine Sgt. Jimmy Ochan and his son William enjoy their visit to the Phillips Collection at the 2015 launch event for Blue Star Museums.
Photo Credit: James Kegley
Visitors can find a list of participating museums in their area at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. It links to a map where you can click on a state and find the list of museums, with links to websites where information is available. You can also see the admission prices, and how much you're saving. For example, the military admission price at the San Diego Museum of Art is normally $9.
"The gift that you give us through Blue Star Museums and the additional exposure and education and experience that our military families gain is valuable for the whole country and the world because we share that as we go along," said Ellyn Dunford, wife of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford, at the launch event.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
