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The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum will offer free admission to military personnel and their families this summer as a 2021 Blue Star Museum.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Currently-serving U.S. military personnel and their families can see the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for free this summer as a part of the Blue Star Museums initiative. The program will begin on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 15, 2021, and end on Labor Day, Monday, September 6, 2021.
Blue Star Museums is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and participating museums nationwide.
“We are so glad to be a part of the Blue Star Museums program and show our appreciation for service members and their families,” said Natalie Shirley, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum President and CEO. “This summer, our military guests and their families will not only have access to one of the nation’s finest collections of Western art and artifacts, but can also enjoy Liichokoshkomo’, the Museum’s newest outdoor expansion focused on play-based learning and promoting the diversity of the American West.”
“Like the resilience that military families demonstrate time and again, The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is an example of resiliency in the arts sector over the past year,” said Ann Eilers, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “We are grateful to The Cowboy for their leadership in strengthening community through their participation in the Blue Star Museums program this summer.”
Blue Star Museums include children’s museums, art, science, and history museums, zoos, gardens, lighthouses, and more, and hail from all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The current list of participating museums will continue to develop over the summer as organizations are welcome to register to be a Blue Star Museum throughout the summer.
"We are thrilled to celebrate the launch of the Blue Star Museums 2021 program! Thank you to the National Cowboy& Western Heritage Museum for participating in this impactful and highly anticipated program,” said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO Blue Star Families. “Because of The Cowboy and their counterparts in the arts community, military families have the opportunity to create special memories and experience the arts again!"
The free admission program is available for those currently-serving in the United States Military—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard as well as members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.
Find the list of participating museums at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. For more information on the events, exhibitions and permanent collections at The Cowboy, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org.
Follow Blue Star Museums on Twitter @NEAarts and @BlueStarFamily, #bluestarmuseums.