Teens get free passes to Philly museums

Philadelphia teens can now visit the city’s museums for free. The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is giving out museum passes good for admission to 12 of the city’s most popular cultural institutions.

More than 1,600 young people have signed up online for the passes in the first week of the STAMP program.

Adrienne Whaley, curator of education and public programming at the African American Museum of Philadelphia, said she hopes the passes will get teens who haven’t come to the museum before to visit.

“This is a way for us to get to that really interesting group of people who are developing themselves, figuring out who they are and who they want to be and who, frankly, sometimes feel disconnected — not just from cultural audiences and all sorts of institutions in this city,” Whaley said.

Museums accepting the pass also include the Barnes Foundation, the National Constitution Center, Eastern State Penitentiary and the Philadelphia Zoo.

“Particularly when you think of the state of the school district right now and the challenge of getting arts into the classroom and in the schools,” says Whaley, “we really thought this would be a great way for us to introduce ourselves to teens.”

The project is being funded by the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Family Teen Program, coordinated with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.