Brandywine River Museum of Art Participates in Blue Star Museums

The Brandywine River Museum of Art announced today that it will offer free admission to the nation's active duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, from Memorial Day through Labor Day, through the Blue Star Museums program. This is the sixth year the Museum will participate. 

The Museum's current exhibition, Horace Pippin: The Way I See It, features work by one of the leading figures of 20th-century art. The exhibition examines the work of Pippin (1888-1946), a self-taught artist and veteran of World War I who served in the renowned African American regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." Despite a war injury, Pippin taught himself to paint in oil using his left arm as a support for his right hand. He vividly depicted a range of subject matter, from intimate family moments and floral still lifes to powerful scenes of war, history and religion. Horace Pippin: The Way I See It will include 65 paintings-close to half of the artist's oeuvre-assembled from museums and private collections across the United States. The Brandywine River Museum of Art is the only venue for this exhibition, the first major exhibition of the artist's work in more than 20 years. 

Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Department of Defense. Leadership support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. The program also provides families an opportunity to enjoy the nation's cultural heritage and learn more about their new communities after a military move. The complete list of participating museums is available at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. 

"Parents of young children tell us that they go together to museums to learn new things and have family time together," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Blue Star Museums helps them do both, by helping military families learn about the 3 cultural resources in their communities, and offering a fun, high-quality experience that's budget friendly as well as family friendly. We're proud to help connect museums to military communities nationwide." 

"Blue Star Museums has grown into a nationally recognized program that service members and their families look forward to each year," said Blue Star Families Chief Executive Officer Kathy Roth-Douquet. "It helps bring our local military and civilian communities together, and offers families fun and enriching activities in their home towns. We are thrilled with the continued growth of the program and the unparalleled opportunities it offers." 

This year, more than 2,000 (and growing) museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative. Museums are welcome to join Blue Star Museums throughout the summer. The effort to recruit museums has involved partnerships with the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Association of Children's Museums, the American Association of State and Local History, and the Association of Science-Technology Centers. This year's Blue Star Museums represent fine arts museums, science museums, history museums, nature centers, and dozens of children's museums. 

The Museum offers free admission to active military duty personnel throughout the year, extending the offer to their families for the summer. 

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The Brandywine River Museum of Art, located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, is open daily (except Christmas Day) from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Museum has an outstanding collection of American art housed in a nineteenth-century mill with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine River. Renowned for its holdings of the Wyeth family of artists, the Museum features galleries dedicated to the work of N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. For more information, call 610.388.2700 or visit www.brandywinemuseum.org. 

About Blue Star Museums
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 25, 2015 through Labor Day, September 7, 2015. The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), 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. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly. To find participating museums and plan your trip, visit arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. All summer long, Blue Star Museums will share stories through social media. Follow Blue Star Museums on Twitter @NEAarts and @BlueStarFamily, #bluestarmuseums, on Facebook, and read the NEA Art Works blog for weekly stories on participating museums and exhibits. Museums that wish to participate in Blue Star Museums may contact [email protected], or Wendy Clark at 202-682-5451. This is the latest NEA program to bring quality arts programs to the military, veterans, and their families. Other NEA programs for the military have included the NEA/Walter Reed Healing Arts Partnership; Great American Voices Military Base Tour; and Shakespeare in American Communities Military Base Tour.

About Blue Star Families
Blue Star Families (BSF) is a national, nonprofit network by and for military families from all ranks and services, including active duty, National Guard and reserves. As the largest and fastest growing military family engagement organization in the country, Blue Star Families forges extraordinary partnerships resulting in 1.5 million military family members served annually through programs and resources with 50 chapters at home and overseas. BSF has also activated more than 26 million hours of community service to build leaders within and strengthen the military community, and connected Americans with their military. To learn more about Blue Star Families' opportunities for service members, military families, and civilians, visit www.bluestarfam.org.

About the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $5 billion to strengthen the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.