Three Bainbridge Island's Museums to Participate in Blue Star Museums Initiative

Online, June 10, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Three island nonprofit museums announced the launch of Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2013. 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.

"Kids Discovery Museum is honored to be a returning participant of the Blue Star Museums initiative and express our gratitude to military families for their service," said executive director Susie Burdick. "We are thrilled to be joined this year by our community partners and neighbors, the art and historical museums, and offer a wider variety of cultural and educational enrichment opportunities to military families this summer," Burdick added.

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art will begin the program on June 14, when it opens the doors to the public. For more information and a complete schedule of opening events, please visit the museum's website at www.biartmuseum.org.

Bainbridge Island Historical Museum is open daily, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and will offer the Blue Star Museums program from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For more information, please visit the museum's website at www.bainbridgehistory.org.

"Blue Star Museums is a collaboration between the arts and military communities," said NEA Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa. "Our work with Blue Star Families and with more than 2,000 museums ensures that we can reach out to military families and thank them for their sacrifice."

"Blue Star Museums is something that service members and their families look forward to every year and we are thrilled with the continued growth of the program," said Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet. "Through this distinctive collaboration between Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts and more than 2,000 museums across the United States, service members and their families can connect with our national treasures with this unparalleled opportunity to visit some of the country's finest museums for free."

This year, more than 2,000 (and counting) museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative, including more than 450 new museums this year. Museums are welcome to join Blue Star Museums throughout the summer. The effort to recruit museums has involved partnerships with the American Association of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Association of Children's Museums, the American Association of State and Local History, and the Association of Science-Technology Centers. This year's Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers, and 75 children's museums.

About Blue Star Museums
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 through Labor Day, September 2, 2013.

The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps - and up to five family members. Please see the chart of the acceptable IDs (PDF). 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. Museums that wish to participate in Blue Star Museums may contact [email protected], or Wendy Clark at 202-682-5451.

This is the latest NEA program to bring quality arts programs to the military, veterans, and their families. Other NEA programs for the military have included the NEA/Walter Reed Healing Arts Partnership; Great American Voices Military Base Tour; and Shakespeare in American Communities Military Base Tour.

About Bainbridge Island Historical Museum
Located in a 1908 restored island schoolhouse, the award-winning nonprofit historical museum features exhibits and a research library (free to the public). Subject and biographical files, oral histories, videos, books, and historic photographs cover a wide range of historic eras and themes, including Native American culture, early explorers, lumber and shipbuilding industries, agriculture, WWII, and the Japanese American Internment histories. The museum's mission is to collect, preserve, and foster knowledge of Bainbridge Island history.

About Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
Scheduled to open on June 14, 2013, the nonprofit art museum is an educational institution whose mission is to engage a diverse population with the art and craft of our region and our time.
serving the Puget Sound region. The Museum exhibits, interprets, preserves, collects, and promotes works of proven cultural value as well as new works by emerging artists and craftspeople.