Harvard Art Museums to Join in Association of Art Museum Directors’ Sixth Annual Celebration of Art Museum Day on May 18, 2015, with Free Admission and Membership Discount

The Harvard Art Museums—comprising the Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum—announced today that they will offer free admission, as well as 10 percent off all new memberships, on Monday, May 18, 2015. The promotion is part of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ (AAMD) Art Museum Day, coinciding with International Museum Day.

Art Museum Day underscores the critical role that art museums play as cultural resources in their communities and celebrates the unique opportunities that AAMD member museums offer visitors to engage with works of art. The Harvard Art Museums also invite visitors to share their experiences on Art Museum Day via social media with the hashtag #ArtMuseumDay.

On Monday, May 18, all visitors to the Harvard Art Museums will receive free admission to the newly renovated and expanded facility, featuring works from the ancient world to the present, and from the Americas, Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia. Visitors will also receive free admission to the special exhibition Mark Rothko’s Harvard Murals, which returns the artist’s 1962 commission for Harvard University to public view through an innovative digital projection conservation approach. See the museums’ exhibition listings for more detail: www.harvardartmuseums.org/visit/exhibitions.

A 10 percent discount will also be offered on all new memberships purchased on May 18. Memberships can be purchased at the museums’ admissions desk or shop, adjacent to the Calderwood Courtyard. For more information about the many benefits of membership, visit www.harvardartmuseums.org/support/members.

“Art museums are invaluable communal spaces that bring people together to experience the arts across cultures and generations,” said Chris Anagnos, executive director of the Association of Art Museum Directors. “AAMD is so pleased that the Harvard Art Museums are joining us in this celebration by welcoming everyone in Cambridge and the greater Boston area to participate in Art Museum Day.”

AAMD represents 242 art museums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico—from regional museums to large museums in major urban centers. International Museum Day is organized annually around the world by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). AAMD’s Art Museum Day is an opportunity to focus attention on the role of art museums in North America.

A comprehensive list of participating Art Museum Day museums is available on the AAMD website: https://aamd.org/our-members/from-the-field/art-museum-day-2015. A list of International Museum Day participating museums is available on the ICOM website: http://network.icom.museum/international-museum-day.

Details about the Harvard Art Museums’ free admission day on May 18 can be found in the museums’ calendar: www.harvardartmuseums.org/visit/calendar/free-admission-day-for-international-museum-day-and-art-museum-day.

About the Harvard Art Museums
The Harvard Art Museums, among the world’s leading art institutions, comprise three museums (the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museums) and four research centers (the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, the Harvard Art Museums Archives, and the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis). The Fogg Museum includes Western art from the Middle Ages to the present; the Busch-Reisinger Museum, unique among North American museums, is dedicated to the study of all modes and periods of art from central and northern Europe, with an emphasis on German-speaking countries; and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum is focused on Asian, ancient, and Islamic and later Indian art. Together, the collections include approximately 250,000 objects in all media. The Harvard Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. Integral to Harvard University and the wider community, the museums and research centers serve as resources for students, scholars, and the public. For more than a century they have been the nation’s premier training ground for museum professionals and are renowned for their seminal role in developing the discipline of art history in the United States.

The Harvard Art Museums’ recent renovation and expansion builds on the legacies of the three museums and unites their remarkable collections under one roof for the first time. Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s responsive design preserved the Fogg Museum’s landmark 1927 facility, while transforming the space to accommodate 21st-century needs. Following a six-year building project, the museums now feature 40 percent more gallery space, an expanded Art Study Center, conservation labs, and classrooms, and a striking new glass roof that bridges the facility’s historic and contemporary architecture. The new Harvard Art Museums’ building is more functional, accessible, spacious, and above all, more transparent. The three constituent museums retain their distinct identities in this new facility, yet their close proximity provides exciting opportunities to experience works of art in a broader context. www.harvardartmuseums.org

Hours and Admission
Daily, 10am–5pm. Closed major holidays. Admission: $15 adults, $13 seniors (65+), $10 non-Harvard students (18+). Free for members; youth under 18; Cambridge residents; and Harvard students, faculty, and staff (plus one guest). On Saturdays, from 10am–noon, Massachusetts residents receive free admission. Visit our website for information about other discounts and policies. www.harvardartmuseums.org/plan-your-visit

Exhibitions, Events, and News
Our Special Exhibitions Gallery presents important new research on artists and artistic practice, and our University Galleries are programmed in consultation with Harvard faculty to support coursework. www.harvardartmuseums.org/visit/exhibitions

Lectures, workshops, films, performances, special events, and other programs are held throughout the year at the museums. www.harvardartmuseums.org/visit/calendar

Check out Index, our multimedia magazine, to keep up with what’s happening at the Harvard Art Museums. http://magazine.harvardartmuseums.org

The Harvard Art Museums receive support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.