Smithsonian magazine

Pull-tab cars & portraits made of bugs

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Courtesy Fairbanks Museum_Bug Art Mosaic

 

Smithsonian magazine’s 11th Museum Day Live! event is coming back around on Saturday, September 26 and this year there are more than 1300 museums around the country that will be offering free admission on that day.

In my first piece for Mashable Travel, I’ve got a round-up of some of the fun and – of course – offbeat museums and special exhibits to go see that day, including portraits made of thousands of bugs at the eclectic Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont and the Grassroots Arts Center in Lucas, Kansas, which has outsider art galore.

Courtesy Grassroots Arts Center, Lucas, Kanas_Car and motorcycle made of pop-can pulltabs by Herman Divers

Read the full story here.

And if you’re out and about over the Labor Day Holiday, keep in mind that it is the first weekend of the month and that means Bank of America and Merrill Lynch credit or debit card holders can get free admission to more than 150 museums around the country, courtesy of the long-running Museums on Us program.

Saturday is free Museum Day: take advantage of it

aviation, Aviation history, Events, Exhibits, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Museums, , ,

This Saturday, September 25, 2010 is free Museum Day around the country.

More than 1300 museums – including a lot of aviation and space museums – will open their doors for free to anyone who shows up with a downloaded coupon from Smithsonian magazine that’s good for admission for two people to any one museum on the list.

Ticket for free museum day

Last year, more than 300,000 people took advantage of the Smithsonian’s free museum day offer. This year, event organizers expect a lot more people – maybe 20% more – to show up.

It’s a great opportunity to go to a museum you’ve been meaning to go to but have put off because the price tag seemed too high.

A few suggestions:

The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City (regular adults admission: $22);

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama (regular adult admission; $24.95);

The Adler Planetarium (regular admission $27 for adults) in Chicago, where there’s a great exhibition of rare and antique telescopes including this rare circa 1660 ivory telescope from Germany

Or the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Kansas Cosmophere