You now have more opportunities to see a Tacoma museum for free.
For a while now, the Pierce County, Puyallup and Tacoma public libraries have offered free museum passes to the Tacoma Art Museum, Children’s Museum and Washington State History Museum. Now the Museum of Glass has been added to the list.
How do you do it? The passes are available to library card holders only, so make sure you have a card. The passes are usually encased in a DVD-like box in the nonfiction section of the library – but it’s probably easiest to look them up in the catalog or ask a librarian. They’re available to borrow on a first-come, first-served basis, thanks to a partnership between the three library systems. You can borrow them for up to three weeks.
The exception is the Children’s Museum; its pass will be available only until Dec. 19. After that, the museum closes temporarily to move to its new location on Pacific Avenue, where it will reopen Jan. 14 and entry will be pay-as-you-can for all.
If you can’t get your hands on a free museum pass, remember that the museums offer free admission on the third Thursdays of each month as part of Tacoma’s monthly ArtWalk. The free hours are 5-8 p.m., except at the history museum, where they are 2-8 p.m.
The Tacoma Art Museum also holds four free community festivals a year, one of which – the Let It Snow annual winter festival – is happening from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. this Sunday.
At the Children’s Museum, the first Friday also is always free from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. – that’s today, folks.
And at the Washington State History Museum, you get free admission on your birthday. Just you, of course. If the museum is closed on your birthday, the free admission applies on the next day the museum is open.
Bank of America cardholders get free admission to Tacoma Art Museum on the first weekend of every month, as well as many other museums around the country (see museums.bankofamerica.com). The Seattle museums are free from 5-8 p.m. on first Thursdays.
Other good (but not free) deals include Midweek at the Museums, which allows discounted admission to TAM, MoG and WSHM; admission is $18-$22. And if you buy a yearly membership, entry is always free.
