More than 1,300 zoos, aquariums and museums now offer free or very low cost admission
David Linden, of Boulder City, Nevada, takes a photo of a sea otter at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif., on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is world famous for its kelp forests, schools of glimmering fish, penguins, sea turtles and frolicking otters. Nearly 2 million people visit each year. But not everyone can afford to go.
“Our mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans. But we can’t achieve that if we don’t have everybody at the table,” said Kera Abraham Panni, a senior community engagement manager at the aquarium. “We want to make sure everybody has access to the joy and wonder that the ocean provides.” Museums don’t get reimbursed by the government for providing free admission, said said Brendan Cartright, a special program manager for the Association of Children’s Museums, which administers and tracks the voluntary campaign.
Museums aren’t just entertainment, he noted. Seeing a Van Gogh painting in person, or Jackie Robinson’s uniform, or an endangered panda can be life-changing. It can inspire a child to study science, or art, or to see the world in a completely different way. In some cases, foundations and large private donors will help make up the cost difference to aquariums, zoos, and museums who participate in the Museums for All program.This year, the California Academy of Sciences began accepting EBT cards in its cafeteria. The famed natural history museum, located in Golden Gate Park, has a tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, an aquarium, a planetarium, and an indoor rainforest.
“Kids go home and talk to their friends about what they saw at the museum,” Peach said. “We saw that this spring with the corpse flower because kids love stinky things. We don’t want people to feel like ‘this is not for us.’ We want people to feel ‘this is for everyone,’ and everyone should have access to it.”
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