The idea of a boutique museum pass came to me a few years ago when I realized how many great small museums there are in New York and that tourists, especially, limited their visits to the majors. I knew from my own travels that each time I returned to a city – be it Montreal, London, or Paris – I would seek out new and different destinations, digging deeper into the cultural firmament.
About a year ago, I offered the idea, to Anne-Marie Nolin, Head of Communications at the Rubin Museum of Art, suggesting that museums with a more targeted curatorial focus band together to promote themselves and encourage New Yorkers and visitors alike to broaden their horizons. Anne-Marie and her media relations colleague at the Rubin, Alanna Schindewolf, have made this a reality. The Museum Discovery Pass is now a reality and offers two-for-one admission to seven small, more specialized museums including:
- American Folk Art Museum
- Asia Society Museum
- Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
- Museum of Chinese in America
- The Noguchi Museum
- Rubin Museum of Art
- The Studio Museum in Harlem
You can print the wallet-sized pass from each museum’s website (e.g., www.rmanyc.org/visit). It is also available from NYC & Company’s Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue at 53rd Street. The Museum Discovery Pass is good from March 1 until May 31, 2010, a great time to get out and visit museums representing different international cultures.