When you’re on a budget, museums are a great place to go to without having to spend a lot of money. Many people, though, don’t seem to know that you can get free admission to almost every museum in the country - at least on certain days.
Corporate Promotions
One way to get into a museum for free is to take advantage of corporate discounts. For example, if you are a Bank of America customer, check out their Museums On Us promotion. You get free admission at participating museums nationwide.
Membership in other organizations may provide you with similar discounts to local museums.
Free Museum Days
Most museums also offer free museum days to the general public. Usually, that’s once a month or once a week. Although these free museum days are sometimes sponsored by corporations, you don’t have to be a member of a special club to get in for free.
If there’s a museum you want to visit, you should give them a call and ask if and when they have free museum days.
For your convenience, I put together a summary of free museum days in six major “museum cities” in the United States: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Washington DC. Please understand that museums may make changes to their free admission policies at any time, so you’re advised to call the museum in advance to be sure the information is up-to-date.
Los Angeles - Free Museum Days
Autry National Center: Museum of the American West Free second Tuesday of month
California African American Museum Free every day
California Science Center Free every day
Corita Art Center Free every day
Craft and Folk Art Museum Free first Wednesday of month
The Getty Center Free every day
The Getty Villa Free every day
George C. Page Museum Free first Tuesday of month
Huntington Library Free first Tuesday of month
Japanese American National Museum Free every Thursday 5 to 8 pm and third Thursday of month all day
Long Beach Museum of Art Free every Friday
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden Free every third Tuesday of month
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Free second Tuesday of month
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Free every Thursday from 5 to 8 pm
MOCA Pacific Design Center Free every day
MOCA Geffen Contemporary Free every Thursday from 5 to 8 pm
Museum of Jurassic Technology Free after 7:45 pm Thursdays / after 5:45 pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Museum of Latin American Art Free every Friday
Museum of Neon Art Free second Thursday of month from 5 to 8 pm
Museum of Television and Radio Free Every Day
Natural History Museum Free the first Tuesday of the month
Pacific Asia Museum Free fourth Friday of the month
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology Free every Wednesday
Santa Monica Museum of Art Free every day
UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Free every day
UCLA Hammer Museum Free every Thursday
USC Fisher Gallery Free Tuesday to Saturday from 12 to 5 pm
New York - Free Museum Days
American Craft Museum Free Thursday from 6 to 8pm
American Museum of Natural History Suggested contribution
American Numismatic Society Free every day
Artists Space Free every day
Asia Society Free Friday from 6 to 9pm
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Free Tuesday all day, Saturday until 12pm
The Brooklyn Children’s Museum Suggested contribution
The Brooklyn Museum of Art Suggested contribution
Bronx Museum of the Arts Free Wednesday all day
Children’s Museum of the Arts Free Wednesday from 5 to 7pm
Carnegie Hall/Rose Museum Free every day
The Cloisters Suggested contribution
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Free Tuesday from 5 to 9pm
Dahesh Museum Free every day
Dia Center for the Arts Suggested contribution
The Drawing Center Free every day
El Museo del Barrio Suggested contribution
Franklin Furnace Free every day
Goethe House German Cultural Center Free every day
The Hispanic Society of America Free every day
International Center of Photography (ICP) Free Friday from 5 to 8pm
Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Suggested contribution
Jewish Museum Free Tuesday from 5 to 8pm
The Municipal Art Society Free every day
Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology Free every day
Museum of American Folk Art Free every day
Metropolitan Museum of Art Suggested contribution
The Museum of the City of New York Suggested contribution
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Free Friday 4:30 to 8:15pm
National Museum of the American Indian Free every day
New York City Police Museum Free every day
Snug Harbor Cultural Center Free every day
New Museum of Contemporary Art Free Thursday from 6 to 8pm
New York City Fire Museum Suggested contribution
New-York Historical Society Suggested contribution
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center Suggested contribution
Pierpont Morgan Library Suggested contribution
Queens Museum of Art Suggested contribution
Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences Suggested contribution
Studio Museum in Harlem Free Sunday all day
Wave Hill Free Tuesday all day
Whitney Museum at Philip Morris Free every day
San Francisco - Free Museum Days
Asian Art Museum Free first Sunday of month
Bay Area Discovery Museum First Wednesday of month
Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive First Thursday of month
Burlingame Pez Museum First Thursday of month
Cable Car Museum Free every day
Cantor Arts Center Free every day
Cartoon Art Museum First Tuesday of month
Chinese Cultural Center Gallery Free every day
Conservatory of Flowers First Tuesday of month
de Young Museum First Tuesday of month
Exploratorium First Wednesday of month
Hearst Museum of Anthropology Free every day
Legion of Honor First Tuesday of month
Marin History Museum Free every day
Mexican Museum First Wednesday of month
Museum of Craft and Folk Art Free every Tuesday
Museum of the City of San Francisco Free every day
Museo ItaloAmericano Free every day
Oakland Museum of California Second Sunday of month
San Francisco Fire Department Museum Free every day
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Free first Tuesday of month
San Francisco Zoo First Wednesday of month
Takara Sake Museum Free every day
Visitor Center & Hyde Pier at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Free every day
Wells Fargo History Museum Free every day
Yerba Buena Center Galleries First Tuesday of month
Chicago - Free Museum Days
Adler Planetarium Free January 5, 12-16, 20, & 27; February 3, 9-13, 17, & 24; March 3, 10 & 17; April 21 & 28; May 5, 12, 19 & 26; June 7-12; September 1, 8, 14-18, 22, & 29; October 6, 13, 20, & 27; November 3, 10, 17, & 24; December 1, 8, 15, & 22
American Bar Association Museum of Law Free every day
Art Institute of Chicago Free every Thursday 5 to 8pm
Chicago Children’s Museum Free every Thursday 5 to 8pm
DuSable Museum of African American History Free every Thursday
Field Museum of Natural History Free every Thursday
Field Museum Free second Monday of month
Freedom Museum Free every day
International Museum of Surgical Science Free every Tuesday
Jane Addams’ Hull-House Museum Free every day
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art Free every day
Museum of Contemporary Art Free every Tuesday
Museum of Science and Industry Free January 5-31; April 22; June 1-5, 19; October 8, 9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30; November 11
National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum Free every day
Newberry Library Free every day
Oriental Institute Museum Free every day
Peace Museum Free every Wednesday
Polish Museum of America Free every day
Spertus Museum Free every Friday
Boston - Free Museum Days
Boston Children’s Museum $1 every Friday 5 to 9pm
Harvard University Art Museum Free every Saturday until 12pm and every day after 4:30pm
Harvard Museum of Natural History Free every Wednesday 3 to 5pm and every Sunday until 12pm
Institute of Contemporary Art Free every Thursday 5 to 9pm, free all day last Saturday of month
Museum of African American History Free every day (suggested contribution)
Museum of Bad Art Free admission with free membership
Museum of Fine Arts Free every Wednesday 4 to 10pm
Washington DC - Free Museum Days
Anacostia Museum Free every day
Art Museum of the Americas Free every day
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Freer Gallery of Art Free every day
Arts and Industries Building Free every day
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum Free every day
Ford’s Theatre and Lincoln Museum Free every day
Hirshhorn Museum Free every day
Library of Congress Free every day
National Air and Space Museum Free every day
National Building Museum Free every day
National Gallery of Art Free every day
National Museum of American History Free every day
National Museum of the American Indian Free every day
National Museum of Natural History Free every day
National Museum of African Art Free every day
National Museum of Women in the Arts Free every day
National Museum of Health and Medicine Free every day
National Portrait Gallery Free every day
National Postal Museum Free every day
Renwick Gallery Free every day
Smithsonian American Art Museum Free every day
Smithsonian International Gallery Free every day
The Smithsonian Institution Free admission to all museums every day
United States Memorial Holocaust Museum Free every day
Photo Credit: vox efx
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