A national nonprofit called Blue Star Families, along with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Department of Defense, helps military families enjoy free admission when they visit participating museums between Armed Forces Day (May 18) and Labor Day (Sept. 2). More than 2,000 museums are participating nationwide in the Blue Star Museums program, including more than two dozen in Arizona.
Phoenix museums participating in the program include Arizona Science Center, Phoenix Art Museum, Pueblo Grande Museum, and Heard Museum.
Other participating Valley museums include the i.d.e.a. Museum in Mesa, the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, the Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler and the ASU Center for Meteorite Studies in Tempe.
Find a complete list of participating museums in Arizona here.
How Blue Star Museums works
The program is open to active-duty military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) who have the proper military ID. It’s also open to members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Corps.
Participants can get free admission for themselves and up to five family members, including a spouse, children, grandparents, grandchildren and aunts and uncles.
Before attending, families should check their IDs and other requirements on the Blue Star Families website.
