Celebrate local museums on Museum Day, September 24, 2011

For immediate release September 12, 2011 Contact: Wendi Hassan, Communications Specialist, 801.860.6396 Utah Division of Arts & Museums Claudia Nakano, Communications Director, 801.859.8443 Utah Department of Community and Culture Celebrate local museums on Museum Day, September 24, 2011 SALT LAKE CITY — On Saturday, September 24, museums across Utah will participate in Museum Day, an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which museums open their doors for free. Extended hours, tours, demonstrations and special events are also being planned. For a map of the 34 participating museums, visit artsandmuseums.utah.gov. Many Utah museums are free everyday, but on September 24, participating museums that do charge will offer two free or reduced adult admissions to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket, available on the Smithsonian magazine website, smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ticket/. “Utah’s museums are the guardians of the state’s natural, cultural, and artistic heritage,” says Margaret Hunt, Director of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums. “We have over 150 certified museums in Utah with collections that vary from dinosaur bones to living animals and from historic aircraft to contemporary art. Each year more than four million people visit Utah’s museums. Come and see why. On September 24, we encourage everyone in the state to visit a museum and discover Utah’s rich cultural assets.” Among the special activities being planned are free crafts and food at the BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures, an artists’ reception at the Springville Museum of Art, $10 guided tours of the restricted area at the Historic Wendover Airfield, $1 astronomy dome theatre shows at the Clark Planetarium, a program and luncheon at the Daggett County Museum, and rug weaving and woodcarving demonstrations at the Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Art. The WagonLand Adventure Foundation in Tremonton will have the historic wagons pulled out so that patrons can get a better look at them; the Great Basin Museum will be giving out weaving kits; and in Kearns, artifacts collected from historic Camp Kearns, some of which have not yet been shown to the public, will be exhibited in a temporary museum arranged just for Museum Day. Many more activities and exhibits are planned for September 24, from “Pioneer Texting” at Mt Pleasant Pioneer Museum, to an interactive exhibit on the science of Utah at the Weber State Museum of Natural Science. More information is available at www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday, www.artsandmuseums.utah.gov, or by contacting Wendi Hassan at whassan@utah.gov, 801.860.6396. American Fork DUP, American Fork Art Access Gallery, Salt Lake City Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, Cedar City Brigham City Museum, Brigham City Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Art, Salt Lake City Clark Planetarium, Salt Lake City Church History Museum, Salt Lake City Conservation Garden Park, West Jordan Daggett County Museum, Manila Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Relic Hall James and Drucilla Hendricks Camp, Richmond Eccles Community Art Center, Ogden Fort Douglas Military Museum, Fort Douglas Goulding’s Monument Valley Trading Post Museum, Monument Valley Great Basin Museum, Delta Historic Wendover Airfield, Wendover John Hutchings Museum of Natural History, , Lehi Kearns Museum, Kearns Little Hollywood Movie Museum, Kanab Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Relic Home and Blacksmith Shop, Mt. Pleasant Murray Museum, Murray Museum of Peoples and Cultures, Provo Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan Ogden Union Station Museums, Ogden Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center, Payson Pioneer Memorial Museum, Salt Lake City Prehistoric Museum, Price Rock Cliff Nature Center, Jordanelle Springville Museum of Art, Springville St. George Art Museum, St. George Taylorsville Bennion Heritage Center, Taylorsville USU Museum of Anthropology, Logan WagonLand Adventure Foundation, Tremonton Weber State Museum of Natural Science, Ogden Woodbury Art Museum, Orem About the Utah Division of Arts & Museums The Utah Division of Arts & Museums is a division of the Utah Department of Community and Culture with a goal to promote innovation in and the growth of Utah’s arts and culture community. The Division provides funding, education, and technical services to individuals and organizations statewide so that all Utahns, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic status, can access, understand, and receive the benefits of arts and culture. Additional information on programs and services can be found at artsandmuseums.utah.gov or by calling 801.236.7555. # # #