It costs about $60 for a family of six to visit the Seattle Art Museum.
If that same family visited the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, the cost would be about $40.
However, from now until Labor Day 2010 more than 700 museums spread throughout all 50 states are offering free admission to active duty military personnel and their families through a program called Blue Star Museums. The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention Common Access Card, or an identification card, and includes active duty military in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserve and up to five immediate family members.
This program was started as a pilot partnership among Blue Star Families, a nonprofit organization that benefits military families, the National Endowment for the Arts and more than 700 museums across America to offer free admission to families with a parent or spouse serving during this time of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Through this initiative, military families are offered an opportunity to visit museums when many will have limited resources and limited time to be together.
The participating museums include children's museums, fine art museums, history, and science museums.
The following is a list of museums participating in the program in Washington state:
Children's Museum of Tacoma
936 Broadway Ave., Tacoma
(253) 627-6031
www.childrensmuseumoftacoma.org
Henry Art Gallery
University of Washington
15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 41st, Seattle
(206) 543-2280
www.henryart.org
Kid's Quest Children's Museum
4091 Factoria Mall S.E., Bellevue
(425) 637-8100
www.kidsquestmuseum.org
Museum of Glass
1801 Dock St., Tacoma
(253) 284-4750
www.museumofglass.org
Museum of History & Industry
Seattle's Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI)
McCurdy Park
2700 24th Ave. E., Seattle
(206) 324-1126
www.seattlehistory.org
Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
2316 W. First Ave., Spokane
(509) 456-3931
www.northwestmuseum.org
Seattle Art Museum
1300 First Ave., Seattle
(206) 344-5275
www.seattleartmuseum.org
Tacoma Art Museum
1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
(253) 272-4258
www.tacomaartmuseum.org
Washington State History Museum
1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
(888) 238-4373
www.washingtonhistory.org
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience
719 S. King St., Seattle
(206) 623-5124
www.wingluke.org
Other nearby out of state museums:
Portland Art Museum
1219 S.W. Park Ave., Portland
(503) 226-2811
www.portlandartmuseum.org
Portland Children's Museum
4015 S.W. Canyon Rd., Portland
(503) 223-6500
www.portlandcm.org
For more information on participating museums in other states, visit:
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