Carnegie Museums offers free teen, low-cost family memberships

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh aims to expand access to its four museums via a group of new Community Access Memberships.

The program includes a free teen membership, a $20 family access membership and a complimentary organizational access membership available to eligible community-based nonprofits.

The free teen membership, open to young people ages 13-18, remains active until the member turns 19. Families and individuals who qualify for public assistance are eligible for full membership benefits through the $20 family access membership. For comparison, a regular family membership is $150.

The complimentary organizational outreach membership is available to eligible nonprofit organizations serving at-risk youth, foster youth, individuals experiencing homelessness and seniors receiving public assistance. This program allows the organization to bring a group of up to 11 people on each visit to a museum, at no cost.

All community access memberships include one year of free general admission to the four member institutions: Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section, and Carnegie Science Center and The Andy Warhol Museum in the North Side.

The program will officially launch during Crash the Carnegies activities planned for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 4400 Forbes Ave. Special story times, hands-on art-making, live performances, science demonstrations and historic tours will be featured.

“A milestone anniversary is a time to remember how far we have come, but it’s also a time to dream how far we can go. So we are using the occasion of our 125th to look beyond the doors of our museums and imagine new ways of opening them to the communities we serve,” said Steven Knapp, president and CEO of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Museums’ actual 125th anniversary year was 2020, Knapp said, but celebrations planned then were scotched by the pandemic.

“We had to shift our focus and go back to our donors and ask, how can we re-purpose those (anniversary celebration) funds and take our outreach to the next level?” he said. “As part of this effort, we are turning our attention to the future of our community — our young people.”

Free memberships are a way to help young people understand the benefits of museum resources, but not just in learning about arts and sciences. Visiting the museums also can help young people connect with each other and broaden their social horizons, Knapp said.

There is no residency requirement for people applying for the memberships, which will be renewable yearly.

“We have a wide radius of visitors and we welcome them all,” Knapp said.

As part of the community access initiative, all four Carnegie Museums plan to expand their lifelong learning experiences through more teen-centric offerings and programming targeted to seniors. Those programs should launch in early 2022, Knapp said.

For more information, visit carnegiemuseums.org.