Nearly two dozen Tampa Bay area museums are participating in the 14th annual free Museum Day Saturday (Sept. 22.) Smithsonian Magazine sponsors the one-day event which provides free entry to anyone with a ticket from the Museum Day site. Two general admission tickets are included in each individual email request.
This yearly event is designed to mimic the Smithsonian Institutions in Washington, D.C., which offer free admission every day.
“It’s for anybody who has been looking for the opportunity to come, but maybe saw cost as a prohibitive thing for them to visit,” said Angelica Bradley, the Youth and Family Program Manager of the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. “We participate because we want to be a part of that museum network and we want to seize this opportunity to give people the chance to explore the Ringling.”
According to Bradley, Ringling has participated in Museum Day for more than a decade and expects upwards of 5,000 visitors. The only exhibit not included with the Smithsonian Day Admission at Ringling is entrance to the Ca’D’Zan, due to its limited capacity.
Every location is approaching Museum Day differently. Check each museum for details:
· The Florida Holocaust Museum
· Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
· University of Tampa’s Scarfone/Hartley Gallery
· Explorations V Children’s Museum
· Florida Museum of Photographic Arts
· Countryman Family One Room Schoolhouse Museum
In St. Petersburg, The Dalí Museum and the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art will have free admission to Pinellas County residents with proof of residency only, but all other guests will receive a voucher to return free another day.
The Tampa Museum of Art will be closed Saturday to prepare for another event, but will be honoring Free Museum Day on Sunday.
