CAMERON ART MUSEUM TO PARTICIPATE IN BLUE STAR MUSEUMS
Cameron Art Museum one of more than 600 museums to offer free admission
to military personnel and their families this summer
The Cameron Art Museum has announced its participation in Blue Star Museums, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, 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. CAM will offer extended summer hours (Tuesday-Sunday 11am-5pm, Thursday 11am-9pm) during this period as well. Families can visit www.cameronartmuseum.com for information on museum programs and events. The complete list of participating Blue Star Museums is available at www.arts.gov.
CAM Director Deborah Velders says “Having grown up in a military family myself, I am so aware of the dedicated sacrifice and patriotism of military personnel and their families. We are happy to show our gratitude by joining with other museums in the Blue Star Museum initiative, which offers discounted benefits to military families.”
“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 National Endowment for the Arts 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.”
Blue Star Museums details
Blue Star Museums runs from Memorial Day, May 31 through to Labor Day, September 6, 2010. The free admission program is available 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. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly. To find out which museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. The site includes a list of participating museums and a map to help with visit planning.
This is the latest Arts Endowment program to bring quality arts programs to the military, veterans, and their families. Other NEA programs for the military have included Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Great American Voices Military Base Tour, and Shakespeare in American Communities Military Base Tour.
