Seven Lynchburg Area Museums to Participate as 
“Blue Star Museums” This Summer

Free admission to military personnel and their families from Memorial Day to Labor Day

Forest, VA – Seven area museums announced the launch of 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.  The participating area museums include the Maier Museum at Randolph College, the Lynchburg Museum System, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, Old City Cemetery, the National Civil War Chaplains Museum, the National D-Day Memorial, and the Legacy Museum of African-American History.

The Lynchburg Museum System, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, the National D-Day Memorial and the Legacy Museum will offer free admission to active military personnel and their families this summer. The Maier Museum, Old City Cemetery and National Civil War Chaplains Museums, normally free-of-charge, will also welcome military personnel this summer. In addition, the Maier Museum will offer a 10% discount in their Museum Shop. Active military personnel will be required to show either a Geneva Conventions CAC ID or a DD Form 1173 ID card at each museum admissions desk to receive admission.

 

The complete list of participating Blue Star Museums is available at http://www.arts.gov/national/bluestarmuseums/index.php

 

“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.”

More than 600 museums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are taking part in the initiative. In addition to thirty children’s museums across the country, participating museums represent a broad range of art, history, science, and cultural topics.

Blue Star Museums Program 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 or events may not be included in this free admission program. 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.

Local Participating Museums

Please see the individual museum’s website for more information to plan your visit. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits or events may not be included in this free admission program.

The Legacy Museum of African-American History  www.legacymuseum.org

The Lynchburg Museum System www.lynchburgmuseum.org or www.pointofhonor.org

Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College www.maiermuseum.org

National Civil War Chaplains Museum http://chaplainmuseum.org

National D-Day Memorial www.dday.org

Old City Cemetery www.gravegarden.org

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest www.poplarforest.org

About Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families is a national, non-partisan, non-profit network of military families from all ranks and services including guard and reserve, with a mission to support, connect and empower military families.  In addition to morale and empowerment programs, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life with civilian community and leaders.  Membership includes spouses, kids, parents, service members, veterans and civilians.

Operation Appreciation is an initiative of Blue Star Families that seeks to connect military families to the larger community.  Blue Star Families 2009 annual survey shows that 94 percent of military families feel that the larger community doesn’t truly understand or appreciate the sacrifices we make for the country.  Through initiatives such as Blue Star Museums, Blue Star Families provides avenues for the larger community to show that they do understand, in meaningful ways that enrich the lives of military service members, spouses, children and parents.  For more information, please visit www.BlueStarFam.org.