Do you want to go somewhere this weekend, but low on funds? You are in luck. This Saturday (Oct 15), you can enjoy some of Milwaukee's amazing museums for free. You can get free admission to the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, Discovery World, Milwaukee Art Museum and the Port Washington Historical Society’s Port Exploreum and 1860 Light Station.
This generous gift is courtesy of The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Gifts to the Community program.
Launched in celebration of the Foundation’s centennial in 2015, Gifts to the Community aimed to provide special opportunities connecting greater Milwaukeeans while showcasing some of the region’s most positive characteristics. Last year, 275,000 people directly participated in 12 surprise gifts that engaged 25 different partner organizations.
Here is are the details about each venue.
Betty Brinn Children's Museum Where: 929 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Explore the Museum’s fun, hands-on exhibits where children can follow their interests, try new things, solve problems and have fun working with others as they learn about the world around them.
- Discover the people, places and processes that make a community work and explore commerce during a visit to our pretend kid-sized business district.
- Listen, share, read, write, perform and create in our pretend global communications company, where literacy comes to life.
- Step into a giant game board with activity stations and physical challenges that highlight ways to stay healthy through proper nutrition, regular exercise, safe practices and good personal care.
- Preschool-age children can build important skills in our pretend urban park filled with sights, sounds and developmentally-appropriate activities for infants and toddlers.
- Design, tinker, collaborate and create something amazing in the Be A Maker space, the Museum’s communal workshop. Participate in do-it-yourself projects that feature real tools, materials and technologies, with activities that promote science, technology, engineering, arts and math, and help children build new skills, collaborate and share their accomplishments.
Discovery World Where: 500 N. Harbor Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53202
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
All exhibits and Kohl's Design It! Lab will be open.
Representatives from Project Adam will be located in the exhibit area that will be the future home of a permanent medical exhibit. Visitors can learn about Adam's story, see cardiac images, and gain hands-on exposure to CPR. Staff members from the Herma Heart Center and Project Adam will be present throughout the day to answer questions and aid in teaching hands-only CPR.
About Project ADAM: Project ADAM began in 1999 after Adam Lemel, a 17-year-old Whitefish Bay, Wis., high school student collapsed and died while playing basketball. Adam suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in which his heart could not properly pump blood to the brain and other vital organs.
Defibrillation or an AED could have saved his life, but one was not available that day. To honor his memory, Adam's parents — Patty Lemel and Joe Lemel — collaborated with Children's Hospital of Wisconsin to create this program in Adam's memory.
Milwaukee Art Museum Where: 700 N. Art Museum Drive., Milwaukee, WI 53202
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Hands-on art making
10:30 a.m. – Storytime in the galleries
10:30 a.m. – John Gurda, Milwaukee historian and author, presents Milwaukee: A City Built on Water in the Lubar Auditorium. The talk explores Milwaukee’s relationship with water, how it has been used for work and play, and what needs to be done to protect it going forward.
11 a.m. – Drop-in tour 2 p.m. – Drop-in tour
Port Exploreum Where: 118 N. Franklin St., Port Washington, WI 53074
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
1860 Light Station Where: 311 Johnson St., Port Washington, WI 53074
Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As part of the Port Washington Historical Society, the 1860 Light Station and Port Exploreum vividly tell the stories of Port Washington from its earliest days to the present. The Light Station, located just east of the historic St. Mary’s Church, has been restored to reflect the life of a Light Keeper in the late 1800s. The Port Exploreum, located in downtown Port, is a history and maritime museum that uses the latest technologies to interactively tell the stories of Port Washington and Lake Michigan.
