Blue Star
Museums
The High Desert Museum is proud to be a partner in the Blue Star Museums program, which offers free admission to museums for all active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel and their families.
The High Desert Museum will give free entrance to an active military ID holder and/or up to five family members. A family member of active duty military may include a spouse or child, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.
Blue Star Museums is a partnership among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and hundreds of museums across the country.
Who is eligible for free museum admission through Blue Star Museums?
The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps – and up to five family members. Please see the chart of the acceptable IDs.
How many military personnel and/or family members are allowed in for free per visit?
The military ID holder plus up to five family members.
How do you define a family member?
A family member of active duty military may include a spouse or child, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.
What if my spouse is deployed? Can my family and I still participate?
Yes, spouses of deployed military are eligible for Blue Star Museums. Just bring your DD Form 1173 ID Card, or DD Form 1173-1 ID Card, for active duty military family members.
How many military personnel and/or family members are allowed in for free per visit?
The military ID holder plus up to five family members.
What if my child is under the age of 10 and doesn’t yet have a military ID?
Children under the age of 10 without military ID are welcome to attend with their parents who either hold a Geneva Convention Common Access Card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID Card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID Card.
Does the Blue Star Museums program include admission for veterans and retirees? For unmarried partners? For parents with a child currently serving on active duty, or for those who have lost a child on active duty?
Admission for these individuals is not included in the scope of this program, unless they are the bearer of a Geneva Convention Common Access Card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID Card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card.
Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America to offer free admission to families with a member serving during this time of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, especially focusing on the approximately 1 million children who have had at least one parent deployed. This program offers these families a chance to visit museums year round when many will have limited resources and limited time to be together..