Eighteen institutions in Santa Barbara County will offer free or reduced admission to eligible low-income visitors as part of the Museums for All program.
The program will support people receiving food assistance (CalFresh/SNAP) benefits by offering admission to the participating museums in Santa Barbara County for free or for a minimal fee of $3 per person for up to four people, with the presentation of a CalFresh (SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer) card.
Institutions that join Museums for All commit to not charging more than $3, but they can choose how much to charge (from free to $3), according to Briana Sapp, director of marketing and communications at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
The participating museums in Santa Barbara County include:
» Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara
» Goleta Valley Historical Society
» MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation
» Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara
» Museum of Sensory & Movement Experiences
» Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
» Santa Barbara Historical Museum
» Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
» Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History & Sea Center
» Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
» Wildling Museum of Art & Nature
Several museums in Santa Barbara County have joined a signature access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services — administered by the Association of Children’s Museums — to encourage people to build lifelong museum-going habits and regularly visit institutions.
The Museums for All program is new to Santa Barbara County.
“This collaboration activates the transformative power of the county’s museums and cultural institutions to sustain our residents’ most important human impulses and needs — to open our eyes, to delight our senses, to feed our minds and to raise up our spirits,” Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History President/CEO Luke Swetland said in a statement. “For those among us who are most economically challenged, these needs are acute and urgent, though too often ignored or sidelined.
“The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is proud and humble to be a part of this effort to raise all of us up together.”
Reduced or free admission through the Museums for All program is available to eligible members of the public at more than 700 museums across the country.
Robin Gose, president and CEO of MOXI, said the countywide embrace of the program is an important step in removing a barrier to attendance.
“We all want our museums and institutions to be inclusive and to be places where all in our community feel welcome,” Gose said. “We know there are certain people who, for a variety of reasons, don’t choose to visit museums.”
MOXI hopes it’s eliminating financial reasons for not visiting the museum by offering free or reduced admission, Gose said.
“For MOXI, it is especially important to offer equitable access to families with children because every child deserves the same opportunities to learn and thrive by having fun learning experiences outside the home or classroom,” Gose said.
Museums for All has helped broaden access to museums by facilitating more than 3 million visits across the country since the program’s inception in 2014, according to the national program.
Participating institutions include museums showcasing art, children’s museums, science centers, zoos, botanical gardens and history museums, officials said.
Staff at participating Santa Barbara County-area museums expressed excitement about the Museums for All program.
“We are proud to join the other museums in our county to ensure that there is no barrier for our community to enjoy the diverse programs and exhibitions we each offer,” said Stacey Otte-Demangate, executive director of Wildling Museum of Art and Nature.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
