‘Blue Star Museums’ – free admission for military families begins Memorial Day

One of the more popular and fascinating exhibits at the Slater Museum at the Norwich Free Academy is a collection of plaster-cast replicas of world famous sculptures. Slater Museum is one of the "Blue Star" museums.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced that nearly two dozen Connecticut museums will offer free admission this summer to active duty military members and their families as part of  “Operation Appreciation: Blue Star Museums.”

“It is just one more way we can say a collective ‘thank you’ for their service to our country. This initiative also opens more doors of opportunity for the public to enjoy and appreciate culture and arts in Connecticut.”

The campaign is a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, a nonprofit group that supports U.S. military families.

‘Blue Star Museums’ runs from Memorial Day, May 31 through Labor Day, Sept. 6.

The participating museums are: Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, http://www.aldrichart.org/ Ridgefield

Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum, http://www.barkermuseum.com/page.asp?PGNM=151 Cheshire

Bruce Museum, http://brucemuseum.org/ Greenwich

Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk http://www.contemprints.org

Danbury Museum and Historical Society, http://www.danburymuseum.org/danburymuseum/Home.html

Fairfield Musem and History Center, http://www.fairfieldhs.org

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, http://www.harrietbeecherstowe.org Hartford

Imagine Nation Museum, http://www.imaginemuseum.org Bristol

Lyman Allyn Art Museum, http://www.lymanallyn.org New London

Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center, http://www.mattatuckmuseum.org Waterbury

New Britain Museum of American Art, http://www.nbmaa.org

New Canaan Historical Society, http://www.nchistory.org

Norwalk Museum, http://www.culinarymenus.com/norwalkmuseum.htm South Norwalk

Old Tolland County Jail Museum, http://www.tollandhistorical.org/tollandcountyjail

Slater Memorial Museum, http://www.norwichfreeacademy.com/museum Norwich

Stamford Historical Society, http://www.stamfordhistory.org

Stanley-Whitman House, http://www.stanleywhitman.org Farmington

Stepping Stones Museum for Children, http://www.steppingstonesmuseum.org Norwalk

The Golden Age of Trucking Museum, http://www.goldenagetruckmuseum.com Middlebury

Torrington Historical Society, http://www.torringtonhistoricalsociety.org

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, http://www.wadsworthatheneum.org Hartford

Yale Center for British Art, http://ycba.yale.edu/index.asp New Haven

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, http://www.peabody.yale.edu/visit/index.html New Haven

For more information on participating museums visit:

http://www.arts.gov/national/bluestarmuseums/index.php?st=CT#list

Posted May 31, 2010