Tiffany Glass at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 03:00 | 
Guest Contributor
by Karen Francis
Tiffany glass –the beautiful lamps, vases of all shapes, sizes, and colours, glass jewelry, and stunning stained glass windows – is on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, Virginia. The Museum entry is free, but the special exhibit is not. Thanks to Blue Star Families, we were able to spend the hottest day on record, in the hottest location in the State of Virginia, inside this beautiful museum, entirely free.
Just like when we went to Colonial Williamsburg – we walked up to the very helpful people at the Visitor Assistance desk, and showed our ID cards for the Blue Star Families/NEA program and got our tickets. Just THAT simple.
The exhibit is gorgeous – did you know that Louis Comfort Tiffany was also a very good painter and designer? Did you know that many of the flower themed lamps were designed by some of the women in the shop, not Mr. Tiffany himself? Did you know that no one knows how many stained glass windows were made by Tiffany Glassworks? The exhibit isn’t just beautiful, it’s an education!
Tags: Chrysler Museum of Art and Hampton Roads Museums Support Military Families
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 12:56 | Steph H-N New M...
As a military brat, some of my earliest memories of summer vacation involved my parents dragging me to museums around the world. And yes, at times I felt dragged, particularly when I was 12-15 years
old and spending time with my parents was akin to being water boarded in my adolescent angst ridden head.
In hindsight, however, it was pretty darn cool.
Fast forward to summer vacations with my kids. I have two "high energy" boys. I use the quotes because sometimes simply energetic doesn't quite cut it as a description. Imagine a 4 year old (Holden) and a 5 year old (Hollis) chasing each other around in circles and screaming at top volume. Now picture that for 2 hours or so in a public place filled with fragile and expensive objects and art, where you aren't supposed to touch anything.
Have a migraine yet?
Over the years my husband and I have taken the boys to lots of museums. We've traveled up to the Smithsonian in D.C. pretty frequently. The Natural History Museum, both Air and Space Museums, the American History Museum, all were loved by H&H. We've been regular visitors to the USS Wisconsin and Nauticus, the Portsmouth Children's Museum and similar kid-friendly venues. But I've never been brave enough to try an art museum with Hurricane Hollis and Hurricane Holden.
I've been selling my kids short.
Don't Touch ANYTHING! A Morning at the Chrysler Museum of Art
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 23:39 | Guest Contributor
by Michelle Galvez
Before entering the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va. Thursday, my kids were strenuously warned to use their inside voices, walking feet and look with their eyes, but not with their hands. I truly enjoy introducing my children to art and culture but I was a bit nervous about the potential for too-up close and personal interaction between them and the priceless and breakable masterpieces inside. I needn’t have worried because between the red, white and blue cupcakes and jobs as museum detectives, my kids were engaged and behaved.
The occasion was the local Hampton Roads celebration of the Blue Star Museums program with more than 850 museums across America offering free admission to military personnel and their families this summer as a Blue Star Families initiative between the National Endowment for the Arts and participating museums. Thursday’s event included comments by U.S. Senator Mark Warner, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, and Rear Admiral Mark Boensel, Commander Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.
They welcomed the military families in the audience by talking about their appreciation for the sacrifices made by military members and the need for communities to support their families through programs like Blue Star Museums. Boensel said how important these initiatives are not just for families but for overall mission readiness of the military. “When our service members can do their jobs because the community is taking care of our families then readiness stays up,” he said.
Visits to Georgia museums a boon to military families
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 03:00 | Guest Contributor
by Vivian Greentree
My husband recently returned from a yearlong deployment. He volunteered for an assignment in Iraq, so he traded in his Navy flight suit for some Army ACUs and has spent the last year on the ground instead of in a plane. We are enjoying the reintegration process, spending time with each other and have probably over-planned excursions this summer to make up for lost time.
After all, he’s missed a lot in the past year — big milestones and small. He missed seeing our older son learn to ride his bike and the confidence he exuded as he pedaled himself right out of my protective grasp. He missed potty training our younger son (well, maybe he didn’t mind that one so much) and our house’s first tooth fairy visit. He wasn’t there for field trips, birthdays, earaches or picnics at the park behind our house.
He also missed a very awkward discussion with a sports equipment store representative about the proper use and placement of a “cup” in preparation for T-ball season. That is one rite of passage I don’t think myself, MJ, or the sales representative will ever forget though!
But this summer, one thing he won’t miss is the enthusiastic looks on our children’s faces as they explore the incredible worlds of art, history, culture, and science through a new initiative between Blue Star Families and the National Endowment for the Arts. This initiative, Blue Star Museums, is a pilot program in which participating museums across the country will open their doors for free to military families from Memorial Day until Labor Day of this year.
A Day with My Military Family, Portsmouth Lightship Museum, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 03:00 | Guest Contributor
by Heather Faulkner
Another weekend was approaching. The weather was too stifling for outdoor activities, and we were already waterlogged from trips to the pool during the week. My kids proclaimed that their mountains of toys were boring, and the television was running almost as frequently as our air conditioner. I needed to plan a family outing. However, with my husband away on travel, just the thought of taking my two energetic young children out in public by myself exhausted me. But thanks to Blue Star Families and the National Endowment for the Arts, I had the opportunity to plan an excursion with a different kind of family: my military family.
My best friend is a military spouse as well. Our children are the same ages, and our husbands were both MIA for the weekend. So we packed up the kids and caravanned to Portsmouth, Virginia to visit the Lightship Museum and the Naval Shipyard Museum, both participants in the Blue Star Museums program offering military families free admission throughout the summer.
The moms juggled cameras as the kids explored the inside of the Lightship PORSTMOUTH. We watched as they asked the tour guide questions and then wandered off before hearing the answers because they had discovered something else that was “really cool.” Whether they were envisioning themselves sleeping in the cramped sleeping quarters, shining a flashlight up to the top of the hollow mast, or designing their own lightship at the table with coloring sheets, the kids’ imaginations were running wild.
Kids Art Contest: Blue Star Museums
Thu, 07/01/2010 - 01:00 | Steph H-N New M...
Has your military family visited a Blue Star Museum?
We’d like to hear from your kids about their experience!
Let's celebrate art as a thank you to the National Endowment for the Arts and the more than 800 museums participating in the Blue Star Museums program. They've given military families the gift of art, now let's show them how much that means to us.
Enter our contest and send us artwork about your visit to a Blue Star Museum or artwork that is inspired by the Blue Star Museum program – winners receive a $500, $250 or $100 savings bond!
The contest is open to military children ages 3 to 17. What is a military child? Any child who has a parent or sibling (including step-parents and siblings) serving on active duty, in the reserves or in the National Guard.
Here's How to Enter:
- Become a member of Blue Star Families at www.BlueStarFam.org.
- Email us your child's artwork with short description/story of your experience to museums@bluestarfam.org.
- Include your name, email and phone number, as well as your child's name and age
- PDF and JPG files accepted, the higher the resolution the better.
- Have your child's entry to us no later than 11:59pm EST on September 12, 2010.
What to Enter:
- Draw a picture or send a photo from your visit to the museum or inspired by the Blue Star Museum program.
- Include a short description of your visit (e.g., what you did, what part you liked best, etc.) and why you are glad you got to go. (Parents may help little ones with writing.) Make sure to include which museum you visited and the date you were there.
- Incorporate a blue star, like the Blue Star Museums blue star, into your drawing in any way you’d like.
Questions: Email questions to museums@bluestarfam.org. Tip: If you add "CONTEST QUESTION" in the subject, we can process your message faster.
Top Six Reasons to Visit a Blue Star Museum for Fourth of July
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 03:00 | jpippert
by Julie Pippert, Blue Star Museums Program Director
Blue Star Families members on Facebook told us all the BEST reasons to visit a Blue Star Museum over the long weekend* and I let them know about a few fun things in their area:
* check the museums’ sites for holiday hours, and contact the museum to see if there are any exclusions to the Blue Star Museum free admission.
6. Karen Francis and Jaclyn Womack agree that air conditioning is the best reason to go inside and enjoy a museum with your family.
Jaclyn said, “I'm pretty sure the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was only slightly more impressive for its displays than it was for its AC. (We had already done all the monuments in the heat and the AC was BLISS!)”
Jaclyn and her friends might check out:
The Railroad and Heritage Museum in Temple, Texas. It’s got a cool (and A/C cool) exhibit of high style travel in the old days and you can ever take a ride on Amtrak.
5. Andrea Beitler is a fan of the learning angle.
Andrea said, “The kiddo's won't realize it’s educational!”
Andrea and her friends might check out:
Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History in Bryan, Texas. It’s got a great fossil collection and according to their site, “There is no other museum within a 100 mile radius of Bryan and College Station which focuses on natural and cultural history and encourages human interaction with nature.”
Hear ye, hear ye – Blue Star Families Free Museum programme is a great success.
Mon, 06/28/2010 - 03:00 | Guest Contributor
by Karen Francis (photos by Steve Francis Photography)
Last weekend, we spent a wonderful day exploring Colonial Williamsburg. The tickets for this attraction are NOT cheap, but thanks to the NEA and Blue Star Families, we got in FREE! We called ahead, to make sure that we didn’t need to get something from MWR, to get other discounts you do, but at least for Colonial Williamsburg we didn’t. All we needed was our ID cards, and we all have those on us at all times. We got there early, because this solstice weekend has been HOT here in the Virginia area. It was very simple, we told the very nice lady that we were there to get the Blue Star Families tickets, showed our ID cards, she asked a couple of questions and voila, two tickets, for the entire weekend.
If you haven’t done Colonial Williamsburg – and you have older children who enjoy history and don’t just want water rides – it’s a great place. I wouldn’t recommend it for any kidlets under 5, they don’t want to sit still and listen, and to really enjoy this, you need to be able to do that. Children can also rent costumes – and the little girls are absolutely adorable! Now, since the weather is horrendously hot, you will be happy to know that many of the shops and buildings are air conditioned, but very inconspicuously, and quietly. But oh, was it welcome.
Blue Star Museums at the Dallas Museum of Art
Wed, 06/23/2010 - 02:36 | jpippert
Check out this wonderful video from a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art for the Blue Star Museums program.
Blue Star Families and National Endowment for the Arts partnership for Blue Star Museums brought NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman and Dallas Museum of Art Director Bonnie Pitman together with a military family, who enjoyed the special treatment and tour. Blue Star Museums offers free admission to military families at participating museums through Labor Day.
Family Time at Colonial Williamsburg
Tue, 06/22/2010 - 13:00 | Guest Contributor
by Michelle Galvez
My husband isn't home much. In fact most of the time it seems he's been assigned only temporary duty in our home - usually when he's asking where something goes in the kitchen or he's well-intentioned but seriously messing with our routines because he doesn't know them. So when he's home we like to max out on the quality family time. Sure, then he gets associated with the fun stuff and I'm the bad guy but I'll suck it up. That's what milspouses do, right?!
Well, we had a whole long weekend over Memorial Day when all members of the household would be present and accounted for so we thought we'd head out of town, but not too far and not spend too much money. Those might be hard requirements to meet but thanks to the Blue Star Museums initiative, Busch Gardens' "Here's the Heroes" program and a military discount at a local Hampton Inn we were able to do just that in Williamsburg, Va.
We have three children and sometimes what's fun for one is a drag for another. But all three - and Mom, Dad and Grandma - thoroughly enjoyed Colonial Williamsburg's outdoor, indoor, living and interactive museum for FREE (a significant savings BTW). We toured all the houses and restored buildings, sampled the authentic-to-the-period beverages at the restored coffee house, learned to dance in a parlor, picnicked on the grounds of the Governor's Palace, wrote our names with a feather pen and came to appreciate our history a bit more (especially how they could have born the Southern humidity in those days without A/C and in a corset). A special touch was the "Honoring Service" notation on our admission badges. Several people stopped our family to thank us for our service and sacrifice.
