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The Culture Pass Initiative Launches in New York City with Support from the SNF

Jul 16, 2018
Photo showing a banner with people at various cultural spots in the city and reading DISCOVER YOUR CITY WITH CULTURE PASS
On Monday, July 16th, 2018, the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), The New York Public Library, and Queens Library launched Culture Pass, a city-wide initiative providing free access to cultural institutions across New York’s five boroughs to the millions of library card holders in the city.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has provided lead support for the initiative, along with the Charles H. Revson Foundation, The New York Community Trust’s Thriving Communities program, and The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Through Culture Pass, participating cultural institutions will provide day-passes for library cardholders to reserve online—from computers at library branches, personal devices, or anywhere they access the internet—then use the printed or digital pass to gain free admission to a specified museum, cultural heritage site, garden, zoo, or performance venue. Participants will also have the option of bringing between one and three guests. Participating organizations donate passes to the program on a monthly basis and are offered the opportunity to reach new audiences by reserving a portion of the passes for patrons living in underserved neighborhoods.

“The impact of the Culture Pass will be monumental. Thousands of library users, who make up the heart of the city, will be welcomed to participate and enjoy NYC’s extraordinary array of cultural riches,” said Stelios Vassilakis, Director of Programs & Strategic Initiatives at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. “SNF is proud to support this project and thankful for the partnership between all three library systems.”

For more details on Culture Pass visit www.culturepass.nyc

Cultural institutions participating in Culture Pass include:

  • Brooklyn Botanic Garden
  • Brooklyn Children's Museum
  • Brooklyn Historical Society
  • Brooklyn Museum
  • Children's Museum of Manhattan
  • Children's Museum of the Arts
  • Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • The Drawing Center
  • The Frick Collection
  • Historic Richmond Town
  • International Center of Photography
  • Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
  • Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
  • The Jewish Museum
  • Louis Armstrong House
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • The Morgan Library & Museum
  • Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1
  • Museum of Chinese in America
  • Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
  • Museum of the City of New York
  • New York Transit Museum
  • Noguchi Museum
  • Queens Historical Society
  • Queens Museum 
  • Rubin Museum of Art
  • SculptureCenter
  • Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
  • Society of Illustrators
  • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
  • Sugar Hill Children's Museum
  • Wave Hill
  • Whitney Museum of American Art