BRANDY MCDONNELL

Several Oklahoma museums to offer free admission Saturday for Museum Day

Brandy McDonnell
As part of Museum Day, visitors to Shawnee's Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art will get to view the exhibit "Sacred Landscapes: The Photographs of Lorran Meares" Meares is known for his nighttime, light-painted photography. Archetypal, mystical interpretations of body, mind and spirit evolve creatively in the context of sacred landscape in dazzling color or black and white, in immersive 3D stereoscopic installations as well as traditional two-dimensional formats. Image provided

Several Oklahoma museums will offer free admission Saturday for Museum Day.

As previously reported, "Smithsonian" magazine has designated Saturday as the 14th annual Museum Day, an initiative in which participating museums across the United States open their doors for free to those who download a branded ticket. The annual event allows museums nationwide to emulate the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, D.C.-based facilities, which offer free admission every day.

In Oklahoma, the updated list of museums participating in Museum Day 2018 include the Oklahoma History Center and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum, in Oklahoma City; Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman; Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee; Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Claremore; Muskogee War Memorial Park and Three Rivers Museum, Muskogee; Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, Duncan; Osage Nation Museum, Pawhuska; Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum, Pawnee; Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum, Woodward; Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford; Stillwater History Museum at the Sherrar, Stillwater; Gilcrease Museum and Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, Tulsa.

Museum Day goes beyond getting visitors through museum doors—it acts as a springboard to empower and help advance the hopes and ambitions of the public, particularly school-aged children and those in underrepresented communities. It represents a national commitment to access, equity and inclusion, according to a news release.

The theme of this year’s Museum Day is “Women Making History,” honoring women in society who are trailblazers in the arts, sciences, innovation and culture, and emboldening others to be pioneers as well. Museum Day 2018 invites participating museums to create programming to support this initiative.

To help amplify this year’s theme and celebrate “Women Making History,” Smithsonian has partnered with Microsoft to create an original mixed reality experience. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum will host the marquee program with the exclusive HoloLens experience and launch event featuring a Q&A session with an astronaut.

“Now, more than ever, we recognize the importance of Museum Day in making our country’s knowledge and culture accessible to everyone,” said Amy Wilkins, chief revenue officer at Smithsonian Media, in a statement. “Given the strides women are making in society, our theme - Women Making History - encourages participating museums and museumgoers alike, to celebrate and honor the female heroines that help shape the world around us.”

Museums in all 50 states have already signed up to participate in Smithsonian magazine’s 2018 Museum Day, the largest event of its kind. More than 1,300 museums are expected to participate this year.

Those wishing to attend and participate in Museum Day 2018 can visit Smithsonian.com/museumday to learn more and download a Museum Day ticket. Each ticket grants the ticketholder, and one guest, free access to any participating museum on Saturday. One ticket is permitted per email address.

A list of participating museums, which will be continually updated as more museums sign up, can be found at Smithsonian.com/museumday/search.

 For more information, go to Smithsonian.com/museumday.

-BAM