Wolfsonian–FIU offering free admission to active-duty military and their families this summer

The Wolfsonian-FIU announced the launch of Blue Star Museums, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Blue Star Families and more than 600 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2010.

The Wolfsonian will offer free gallery admission May 28 through  Sept. 6, 2010, to active duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members), which includes active duty Reserve and active duty National Guard. For questions, please call 305.535.2622 or send an email to info@thewolf.fiu.edu. The complete list of participating Blue Star Museums is available here.

“America’s museums are proud to join the rest of the country in thanking our military personnel and their families for their service and sacrifice,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “I cannot imagine a better way to do that than welcoming them in to explore and enjoy the extraordinary cultural heritage our museums present. The works of art on view this summer will inspire and challenge viewers, and sometimes they will just be a great deal of fun.”

“There have always been wonderful examples of partnerships between museums and military installations, but the scale of this gift from the museum communities to military families is thrilling,” said Blue Star Families Chairman Kathy Roth-Douquet. “Military families work hard for this country, and it is gratifying for us to be recognized for that. We anticipate that thousands of military families will participate in the program and visit museums this summer—many of them for the first time. Blue Star Families will work hard to help our military families make the most of these opportunities.”

More than 600 museums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are taking part in the initiative. The American Association of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, and the Association of Children’s Museums each sent a letter from NEA Chairman Landesman inviting museums to participate in this program.  In addition to 30 children’s museums across the country, participating museums represent a broad range of art, history, science, and cultural topics—from the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, to the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, California, to the Mission San Luis, a living history site and historic landmark in Tallahassee, Florida, to the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Lincoln – Nebraska, the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, and the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire.