Active duty military personnel and their families will be able to attend 14 San Diego museums for free this summer. The museums are participating in the nationwide program called Blue Star Museums, which was created by the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, a support organization for military families.
Landesman says the national effort is meant to support military families: "One of the problems with military families is finding things that they can do together as a family. If they wanted to go the museum but were hesitant to do so because of the cost, that removes that impediment."
Sherry Brown has two children. Her husband was recently deployed. He is a marine stationed at Miramar. Brown says a summer of free admission to museums comes at just the right time. She explains, "I think especially being a deployed family right now it's nice because the summer is very long and until we can get back to school, it's nice to know there is something we can do that won't break the bank and but will keep the kids occupied."
Many museums discount admission to military and their families year round. With the discount, it costs Brown and her family $18 a day to attend the San Diego Museum of Art. SDMA, the Mingei International, and the Museum of Photographic Arts are just some of the museums that will offer military free admission this summer. You can find a full list here.
There are 600 museums participating nationwide. The program runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
