Times are tough for many of us as well as for many non-profit museums in San Diego. Nevertheless, the mission of any community museum is to make art, various histories, science and curiosities accessible and affordable to the general public during good and bad times.
San Diego is home to many great museums and they all offer a plethora of discounts and free entry days throughout the year. Of course, becoming a member of your favorite museum provides you with free access year round, as well as many other benefits including reciprocal free access to other institutions. (Note: If you are a student, membership fees can be quite low, so you might want to look into that). If membership isn’t an option for you, then schedule a day off from the daily grind by taking advantage of any one of these different discounts.
As a public service, Balboa Park museums offer free admission on a rotating basis on the first four Tuesdays of the month to San Diego city and county residents (with ID), active military and their dependents. For example, next Tuesday, July 26, the San Diego Air and Space Museum, San Diego Automotive Museum and San Diego Hall of Champions are open for free. Go to balboapark.org and search for “Residents Free Tuesday” for the full list of participating museums and also look for additional coupon discounts!
If you are younger than 25, then entry to all locations (La Jolla and downtown) of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is free all year, thanks to Qualcomm. In addition, there is also free museum admission from 5 to 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month.
If you have children or you are a kid at heart, save $10 and enjoy Target sponsored free second Sundays at the New Children’s Museum. One of the goals of the NCM is to empower children to experience art via participatory exhibitions, hands-on studio opportunities and in-depth classroom experiences and this place seems to live up to its name with something new happening all the time.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps offers free admission to UCSD alumni associates and benefactors who present their alumni access card as well as discounts for AAA, AARP, FourSquare and Go San Diego card participants.
The Lux Art Institute is always free to visitors 21 and younger, visitors who ride a bicycle to the Lux and to visitors attending Lux@Night on the third Wednesday of the month, and free Saturday offered quarterly from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Although neither of these local organizations are free, both of them are worth a visit and cost next to nothing for entry. The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon has been on my list of things to do forever. Admission is by “suggested donation.” The Women’s Museum charges just $5 to adults and $3 to seniors and students, less than a fancy coffee drink at Starbucks!
This is just a sampling of the museums in San Diego. Go to sandiegomuseumcouncil.org for more information about various museum hours and locations and take a look at your AAA membership and credit cards to see if they offer any additional discounts and benefits. Don’t forget to take any relevant IDs with proof of local residency and have a great day.
