CBMM offers free admission for military families this summer

For the 7th consecutive year, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md. is participating in the national Blue Star Museums program to offer free, general admission to all active-duty military personnel and their immediate families from Memorial Day, May 29, 2017 through Labor Day, September 4, 2017.

Blue Star Museums represents a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This year’s participating museums are listed at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

Located near the nation’s capital on the Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore, CBMM’s 18-acre waterfront campus offers 12 exhibition buildings to explore in a few hours or over multiple visits. Highlights of the experience include climbing and exploring the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, interacting with shipwrights restoring authentic, wooden Chesapeake boats, renting a small craft to paddle the Miles River on your own, taking a river cruise on the 1920 buyboat Winnie Estelle, and engaging in numerous hands-on exhibitions, family-oriented activities, and other programming and events.

“The Blue Star Museums program is a great opportunity for the NEA to team up with local museums in every state in the nation to support our service members and their families,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “It means a lot to offer these families access to high-quality, budget-friendly opportunities to spend time together.”

This year’s Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts and maritime museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers, and dozens of children’s museums.

While at CBMM, guests can see progress on the log-hull restoration of the 1889 bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, now underway in the boatyard through 2018. Special exhibitions include Potomac Waterfowling: Gunning the Nation’s Rivers, and Robert de Gast’s Chesapeake, featuring 80 photographs curated from the more than 10,000 by de Gast in CBMM’s collection. Potomac Waterfowling continues through March, 2018, with Robert de Gast’s Chesapeake continuing through April, 2018.

The free general admission program is available at CBMM to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card, a DD Form 1173 ID card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard—as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps – and up to five family members. Festival admission is not included. CBMM also offers year-round free general admission to all active military individuals. General admission is otherwise good for two days and is free for CBMM members and children ages 5 and under.

Located on the harbor and within walking distance to the shops, restaurants, inns, and other attractions of historic St. Michaels, CBMM’s campus includes the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse and numerous exhibition buildings, a floating fleet of historic Chesapeake boats, small craft rentals, and scenic river cruises aboard the 1920 buyboat, Winnie Estelle. Free parking is available, with more information at cbmm.org or by calling 410-745-2916.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about NEA.