MEDIA RELEASE
May 27, 2011
Media Contact: Lisa McKeown, Communications Coordinator, 253.272.4258
x3047, lmckeown@TacomaArtMuseum.org
Tacoma Art Museum Offers Free Military Admission This Summer
More than 1,300 museums offer free admission to military personnel and
their families
(Tacoma, WA) - For the second year in a row, Tacoma Art
Museum is joining the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star
Families, and more than 1,300 museums across America to offer free
admission to all active- duty military personnel and their families from
Memorial Day, May 30, through Labor Day, September 5, 2011. Leadership
support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star
Families. The complete list of participating museums is available at
www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.
"Tacoma Art Museum is proud to support the men and women
serving our country and to give back to them and their families by
sharing with them the gift of art," said Stephanie A. Stebich, Tacoma
Art Museum Director. "We seek to connect people through art and to build
our community."
The free admission program is available to active-duty
military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five
immediate family members). Active- duty military include Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active-duty National Guard and
active-duty Reserve members.
"Blue Star Museums may be the program at the NEA of which I
am proudest," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "Blue Star Museums
recognizes and thanks our military families for all they are doing for
our country, and simultaneously begins young people on a path to
becoming life-long museum goers."
This year, more than 1,324 museums in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in
the initiative, including more than 500 new museums this year. Blue Star
Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums,
history museums, nature centers, and 70 children's museums.
"We are thrilled that 300,000 military family members
visited our partner museums in the summer of 2010," said Blue Star
Families Chairman Kathy Roth-Douquet. "We hope to exceed that number
this year as the military community takes advantage of the rich cultural
heritage they defend and protect every day."
In 2010, Tacoma Art Museum welcomed nearly 700 active-duty
military members and their families during the Blue Star Museum Program;
nearly four times as many from the previous year before the program
started.
Local Blue Star Museums include Tacoma Art Museum, Museum of
Glass, Children's Museum of Tacoma, DuPont Museum, and Seattle Art
Museum. For a full listing of Blue Star Museums both in Washington and
around the country, visit www.TacomaArtMuseum.org/BlueStar.
HOURS Wednesdays-Sundays 10 am-5 pm, Third Thursdays 5-8
pm
ADMISSION Adult $10, Student/Military/Senior (65+) $8, Family
$25 (2 adults and up to 4 children under 18). Children 5 and
under free. Third Thursdays free from 5-8 pm. Members always free.
CONTACT 253.272.4258, www.TacomaArtMuseum.org
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