College Students Offered FREE Admission To Philly's Museums And More On College Day Next Saturday

Philadelphia Museum of Art Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of College Day on September 24th, 2011

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will be participating in the annual College Day on Saturday, September 24th, 2011. Now in its 25th year, the daylong festival offers students (with valid college ID) free general admission to cultural institutions throughout the city, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Students visiting the Museum on College Day can stroll through more than 200 galleries and take in the Museum’s extraordinary permanent collection including masterpieces by Monet and Cezanne to Brancusi and Duchamp as well as special exhibitions such as Here and Now: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists, which reflects the remarkable strength and diversity of talent that exists in this city’s cultural community. In the Museum’s Perelman Building, they can engage with the newly opened  Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion, a sculptural environment housing furniture, decorative art, jewelry, and footwear designed by the internationally renowned, Pritzker prize-winning architect. Student discounts are available for Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, which explores the artist’s radical shift in his depiction of Christ and is on view through October 30. For those interested in visiting the Museum year round, discounted memberships are available for full-time students.
All students visiting the Museum on College Day will be eligible to win a student membership or tickets to the upcoming opening night for Zoe Strauss: Ten Years. To enter, students must “like” the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Facebook page and participate in the Museum’s College Day poll. Zoe Strauss: Ten Years is a mid-career retrospective of the acclaimed Philadelphia photographer’s work and the first assessment of her ten-year project to exhibit her photographs annually in a space beneath a section of Interstate-95 in South Philadelphia.
In addition to enjoying free entry to area museums and attractions, students will be offered special discounts, giveaways, entertainment, and prizes. College Day features a screening of the movie “50/50” and the Popped Music Festival. The Campus Philly Team will be on location at the foot of the Museum steps (at the East entrance) where students can sign up for Campus Philly’s e-newsletter and get their program map stamped to be entered to win a prize. Free shuttle buses will run from 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., stopping at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rittenhouse Square Park, LOVE Park, Franklin Square, and Eastern State Penitentiary.
College Day provides students with free access along the Parkway to The Academy of Natural Sciences, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Free Library of Philadelphia, The Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design, “Museum Without Walls” Public Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
The Museum hosted the first College Day in 1987. Five years later, with the inclusion of additional institutions on or near the Ben Franklin Parkway, the event became known as College Day on the Parkway. Now, museums and cultural centers in Fairmount, University City and Old City have widened the participation.
“College students are an integral component of this city’s vibrancy,” commented Marla Shoemaker, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Senior Curator of Education. “Every institution that takes part understands the importance of welcoming all new and returning students and ensuring that they are aware of the city’s vast cultural opportunities—an essential part of the college experience in Philadelphia.” Shoemaker adds that working with Campus Philly on this exciting event is something to which the Museum looks forward every year.
For more information on the Museum’s participation in College Day, visit: http://www.philamuseum.org/education/273-468-330.html. For more information on Campus Philly’s College Day, visit http://www.campusphilly.org/collegeday2011/index.html.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States, showcasing more than 2,000 years of exceptional human creativity in masterpieces of painting, sculpture, works on paper, decorative arts and architectural settings from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. An exciting addition is the newly renovated and expanded Perelman Building, which opened its doors in September 2007 with five new exhibition spaces, a soaring skylit galleria, and a café overlooking a landscaped terrace. The Museum offers a wide variety of enriching activities, including programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.
For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at (215) 684-7860. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For general information, call (215) 763-8100 or visit the Museum's website at www.philamuseum.org.