Currier Museum offers Free admission for active military families Memorial Day through Labor Day

Currier Museum of Art is pleased to announce that it will offer free admission for active duty military and their families between Memorial Day, Friday, May 28, 2010 through Labor Day, Monday, September 6, 2010. This program is part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Blue Star Museum pilot program - a collaboration with Blue Star Families’ Operation Appreciation. Blue Star Families is a non-profit organization that works to support America’s military families from all branches of the service.

“Over a million Americans have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, over 900,000 children have said goodbye to a parent at least once since the fighting began, many have endured 2, 3, 4 or more deployments. These families often feel that their sacrifices may seem to go unnoticed. The Blue Star Museum program says to our nation’s military families that the arts community recognizes and honors their contribution, by opening the doors to our nation’s art treasures to those who have been serving so long and so faithfully. Blue Star Families is thrilled to be a partner with the National Endowment for the Arts in developing and promoting the Blue Star Museum initiative”. Blue Star Families

“The Currier is honored to be a part of the Blue Star Museum pilot program,” said Director Susan Strickler. “Military families make enormous sacrifices for our country and we are pleased to offer free museum admission to them and their families as our way of thanking them for all that they do.”

About the Currier The Currier Museum of Art (www.currier.org) in Manchester, NH is home to an internationally respected collection of European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. New galleries showcase highlights of the collection of over 11,000 objects, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, O'Keeffe, and Warhol. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the engaging traveling exhibitions, a series of dynamic programs ranging from music to lectures to hands-on art-making, an expanded gift shop and an airy new café filled with light and equipped with Wi-Fi.

The associated Art Center offers studio classes, art camps and intensive workshops for all ages. The museum also owns the Zimmerman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, complete with the original furnishings and the owners' fine art collection. The Zimmerman House is the only Wright-designed house in New England open for public tours which are offered April – December. For more information, visit www.currier.org or call 603.669.6144, x108.

Karen Tebbenhoff,Currier Museum of Art,Director of Marketing & PR,603.669.6144 x102, ktebbenhoff@currier.org