Public Museum offers free admission on Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day

By Christie Bender

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) just announced its partnership in the 15th annual Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day on Saturday, Sept. 21, offering the opportunity for free general admission to Museum Day ticket holders.

The annual Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day is a national celebration of boundless curiosity in which participating museums emulate the free admission policy at the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington D.C.-based museums. Museum Day represents a nationwide commitment to access, equity and inclusion. More than 450,000 tickets were downloaded for last year’s event, and Museum Day 2019 is expected to attract more museumgoers than ever before.

Participants must download free Museum Day tickets to receive free general admission from the GRPM. Museum Day tickets are available for download at Smithsonian.com/museumday. Visitors who present a Museum Day ticket will gain free entrance for two at participating venues on Sept. 21. One ticket is permitted per email address.

This year, Museum Day will celebrate the Smithsonian Year of Music, an institution-wide initiative celebrating the Smithsonian’s vast musical collections and resources through 365 days of music-related programming. Music is not only a reflection of human creativity and innovation, but also a key method of communication and cross-cultural exchange and understanding. The Smithsonian Year of Music crosses disciplines, bringing together music-related resources in art, history, culture, science and education.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, Museum goers to the GRPM can explore three floors of core exhibits focused on history, science and culture, along with the current temporary exhibits TOYS! and Changing America as part of their admission.

TOYS! is an interactive, multi-generation exhibition of toys and games to rekindle childhood memories and spark the creation of new ones.

Baby Boomers loved Paper Dolls, Erector Sets, and Mr. Potato Head, Gen Xers preferred Holly Hobbie and Hot Wheels, and Millennials have never known a world without Super Mario or My Little Pony. Some toys, like Barbie and G.I. Joe, have adapted to appeal to different generations and remain popular today. Toys and games have changed over time, but the desire to imagine, compete, and create has not.

The exhibit, designed and curated by the GRPM staff, features toys and games from the Museum’s Collections and on loan from community members. Visitors will imagine, compete and create, while going on a journey of toys through generations.

Through the design process of the exhibition, the Museum worked with several experts from the community making sure the design was as inclusive as possible so everyone visiting can enjoy it. The exhibition is being presented in both English and Spanish, and also includes Braille.

Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963, examines the relationship between two great people’s movements, which both grew out of decades of bold actions, resistance, organization, and vision. One hundred years separate them, yet they are linked in a larger story of liberty and the American experience – one that has had a profound impact on the generations that followed.

In addition to artifacts from the GRPM Collections, many artifacts on display are on loan from the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives. Local stories are told through the eyes of our community and oral histories will be presented. The exhibition also includes a place for visitors to share their own stories. Shared stories will be added to the GRPM’s digital archive found at grpmcollections.org.

Created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History, the exhibit was toured nationwide by the American Library Association’s Public Program Office. The Changing America exhibit is now a possession of the GRPM.

A list of participating Museum Day museums, which is continually being updated, can be found at Smithsonian.com/museumday/search. For more information, please visit Smithsonian.com/museumday.