Comments on: Free museum admission! Whee!

Free museum admission! Whee!

moss — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:12:10 -0800

"On September 30, 2006, for one day only, museums across the country will join the Smithsonian Institution in its long-standing tradition of offering free admission to visitors."

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:20:25 -0800

Oh, cool! Thanks for the heads up!

By: saladin

saladin — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:21:21 -0800

Cool, thanks for the heads up! I'm going to go try to check out the Cooper-Hewitt museum.

By: saladin

saladin — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:21:34 -0800

Whoa, that was weird.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:23:15 -0800

Jinx! I think I'm gonna check out the California Academy of Sciences.

By: Uther Bentrazor

Uther Bentrazor — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:29:17 -0800

Being a Northern VA resident, I'm spoiled in the sense that museums charging for admission came as a surprise to me later in life.

By: amarynth

amarynth — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:31:36 -0800

That's neat. I'm from DC, and I'm so spoiled that when I travel, I'm always slightly taken aback when I go to a museum and I have to pay.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:34:29 -0800

OK, so what's the deal with the downtown Chicago museums not participating? The Field, the Planetarium, the Aquarium? If this is a Smithsonian-run event (in that, it's of that scale), those would be the first Midwest museums I would expect to see on the list. *sigh* I may still go to them this weekend, as I may have inadvertently blabbed about this to my children before properly investigating it.

By: malocchio

malocchio — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:36:18 -0800

I had no idea that my city is home to The Bunny Museum. (Sorry to say that their website is less than adorable. My eyes! My eyes!)

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:36:32 -0800

Is that really how it is in most of the country? I thought most museums were already free; the difference was that the Smithsonian doesn't bother with the "suggested donation" deal. I lived in New York for 4 years and the only museums I was forced to pay admission for were the private ones like MOMA.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:36:54 -0800

Forget the Shedd, thanatopsis. Where the hell is the Art Institute?

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:42:33 -0800

Pretty much, XQUZYPHYR. Sometimes museums will grant free admission to students, but general free admission is pretty rare I think.

By: jrb223

jrb223 — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:44:35 -0800

Yeah, free museums is the thing i miss most about DC...

By: fluffycreature

fluffycreature — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:54:41 -0800

Yale University Art Gallery Free, all the time.

By: Science!

Science! — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:59:03 -0800

Woohoo for St. Louis and it's always free museums! Art! History! The Zoo! and even Science! They're all free! Just one of many reasons St. Louis is awesomer than your city.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:02:00 -0800

I lived in New York for 4 years and the only museums I was forced to pay admission for were the private ones like MOMA. Huh? Most of the good museums in NY are private and cost money. Besides MOMA, there's the Guggenheim, the Frick, the Whitney, AMNH, etc. I think the only one where payment is optional is the Met.

By: Keith Talent

Keith Talent — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:03:45 -0800

Just one of many reasons St. Louis is awesomer than your city. You mean the only reason? Right? Barbecue too I guess.

By: Science!

Science! — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:21:14 -0800

Flat pizza and Schlafly beer as well.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:21:45 -0800

SWEEEEET. I had no idea there was a Whaling Museum on Long Island! I look forward to checking out their exhibits, now. Many thanks!

By: pretzel

pretzel — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:25:19 -0800

In addition to what fluffycreature said, the Yale Center for British Art is free all the time too. The go see the dinosaurs at the Peabody Museum, which isn't free all the time.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:26:48 -0800

Just one of many reasons St. Louis is awesomer than your city. But on the downside, Nelly.

By: anjamu

anjamu — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:40:25 -0800

Iridic, I think the Art Institute is already free one day a week (Ford Free Tuesday) so maybe they don't feel obliged to participate?

By: bardic

bardic — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:48:20 -0800

I'M IN UR MUZEUM, CONSUMING YR CULTUREZ

By: The Great Big Mulp

The Great Big Mulp — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:50:43 -0800

I wish the Boston Museum of Science was participating. I bet I could convince someone to drive me up there.

By: Holy foxy moxie batman!

Holy foxy moxie batman! — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:53:56 -0800

The museums in San Francisco are free the first Wed of the month, so if you ever come out to visit, take note..otherwise it costs about ten bucks or so.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:59:52 -0800

SWEEEEET. I had no idea there was a Whaling Museum on Long Island! The one at Luna Park is better.

By: pokermonk

pokermonk — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:25:10 -0800

I think the Art Institute is already free one day a week ...on Thursday nights as of June 3. I was happy to see the Art Institute start opening its doors in the evening, but a bit bothered about the now required admission the rest of the time. I liked being able to give proportionate to the time I'd be spending (especially since I have tax dollars going to it already); $2 to walk around for an hour or so. I can't imagine a lot of people did that, but I also can't imagine I'm the only one.

By: melissa may

melissa may — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 02:17:00 -0800

Very, very cool -- I think I'll go check The World Forestry Center out. Thanks very much, moss.

By: Sprout the Vulgarian

Sprout the Vulgarian — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:28:58 -0800

Thank you so much for the post! Everyone should note that you have to print out the special card to take advantage of this. I'm SO EXCITED to now have weekend plans!!!

By: lhauser

lhauser — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 18:21:22 -0800

I took #2 son to the Washington State Historical Society Museum. He really wanted to go to the Burke Museum at the UW, but they weren't participating. It's a great program. Most Seattle-area museums are open free the first Thursday of the month, though...