In the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, D.C.-based facilities, which offer free admission every day, Museum Day is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone presenting a Museum Day ticket.
The ticket can be downloaded online and provides free admission for two people to one participating museum on Saturday, Sept. 18.
The list of participating venues currently shows 14 attractions in Kansas and three in Wichita. So far, the list includes these Visit Wichita partners:
- Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, open 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays
- Wichita Art Museum, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays (admission always free on Saturdays)
- Museum of World Treasures, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays
- Cosmosphere, International Sci-Ed Center and Space Museum, in nearby Hutchinson, open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays
To get your tickets, head to the Smithsonian Magazine's website, select the museum you're planning on visiting, and provide the info needed to generate the ticket.
Though these museums are not participating in Smithsonian Museum Day, they do offer free admission days:
- Great Plains Nature Center, always free
- Ulrich Museum of Art on Wichita State University campus, always free, including an 80-piece outdoor sculpture collection throughout campus
- The Original Pizza Hut Museum, always free
- Old Cowtown Museum, free on Sundays from April through October
- Keeper of the Plains, always free, including interpretive displays in the plaza area
Other ways to save on admission at Wichita attractions include:
- Botanica Wichita, $3 admission from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday nights through September
- Little Aviators takes place from 10 a.m.-noon every Friday at the Kansas Aviation Museum for children ages 1-12. Child admission is $5 and one adult per paid child gets in free.
- Wichita Wind Surge fans receive half-price berm tickets to Wednesday games when they present their Dillons receipt showing a donation to Dillons Zero Hunger Zero Waste program at the Wind Surge box office.
- Pick up a Visit Wichita Explore Card and start saving. With an Explore Card, you pay full price at the first attraction you visit. Then, you will be given an Explore Card good for a $2 discount for each ticket you purchase at other participating attractions.
Explore more Wichita museums and other upcoming arts and culture events.
