The 18th annual Museum Day, as designated by Smithsonian magazine, is officially taking place on September 17, when museums and other sorts of cultural destinations all around the country will allow visitors in for free. You'll need a branded ticket to gain access to each venue and you can download that right here.
Participating destinations in the New York area include the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, the World Awareness Children’s Museum in Glens Falls, the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, the Poster House in Manhattan, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan as well as the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx.
"Museum Day goes beyond getting visitors through museum doors—it acts as a springboard to empower and help advance the hopes and ambitions of the public, particularly school-aged children and those in underrepresented communities," reads an official press release about the day. "It represents a national commitment to access, equity and inclusion."
This year's theme, the American experience, particularly draws on those exact subjects, simultaneously exploring them through the arts and the sciences.