Visits to Georgia museums a boon to military families
My husband recently returned from a yearlong deployment. He volunteered for an assignment in Iraq, so he traded in his Navy flight suit for some Army ACUs and has spent the last year on the ground instead of in a plane. We are enjoying the reintegration process, spending time with each other and have probably over-planned excursions this summer to make up for lost time.
After all, he’s missed a lot in the past year — big milestones and small. He missed seeing our older son learn to ride his bike and the confidence he exuded as he pedaled himself right out of my protective grasp. He missed potty training our younger son (well, maybe he didn’t mind that one so much) and our house’s first tooth fairy visit. He wasn’t there for field trips, birthdays, earaches or picnics at the park behind our house.
He also missed a very awkward discussion with a sports equipment store representative about the proper use and placement of a “cup” in preparation for T-ball season. That is one rite of passage I don’t think myself, MJ, or the sales representative will ever forget though!
But this summer, one thing he won’t miss is the enthusiastic looks on our children’s faces as they explore the incredible worlds of art, history, culture, and science through a new initiative between Blue Star Families and the National Endowment for the Arts. This initiative, Blue Star Museums, is a pilot program in which participating museums across the country will open their doors for free to military families from Memorial Day until Labor Day of this year.
So far more than 750 museums nationwide have signed on to participate and at least 30 of them are children’s museums. Several notable museums in the Atlanta area like the CDC/Global Health Odyssey Museum, the Center for Puppety Arts and the High Museum of Art have already signed on, and Georgia has 15 total museums on the official list of participants, according to the NEA’s informational Web site.
A native Atlantan, I vividly remember my mother taking me to places like the High Museum, Sci-Trek, the Center for Puppetry Arts and the Alliance Theater when I was younger. I especially liked anything to do with Egyptian artifacts, something my own children have inherited. Hieroglyphics and mummies are such an adventure for little ones. On hot summer days when the humidity overcame us or when a new exhibition came through, we explored through wonderful, colorful displays of faraway cultures.
There were also more solemn lessons to be learned through these trips. For example, the Michael C. Carlos museum’s exhibit on the Holocaust was indelible and initiated earnest discussions in our house about the importance of being a force of good in the world. I’m only too excited to share my old stomping grounds, and their potential for personal and intellectual growth, with my children when we come to visit my parents this summer.
I’m excited in another way as well, however. I am immensely proud that Georgia, and especially Atlanta, is so well represented on the list of participating museums for this program, which supports our military families. The pilot program was conceived of in partnership between leaders in the NEA and Blue Star Families as a way to offer free admission to military families with a parent or spouse serving, with an emphasis on the approximately 1 million children who have had at least one parent deployed.
This program offers our nation’s military families a chance to visit museums this summer when many will have limited resources and limited time to be together. What a fantastic way to spark imaginations and open new vistas for the creativity that is so vital to weather these long separations and create the necessary coping skills for our military children by encouraging the mental engagement and sustenance found in museums. When children are exposed to different cultures and new ideas, the information absorbed expands possibilities, the ability to critically analyze, the desire to dream even.
Moreover, this program is a tangible example of a larger message of support and thanks to military personnel and their families for their service and sacrifice. Honestly, with less than 1 percent of our nation’s citizens serving in the armed forces, even those of us living in military towns can begin to feel as if we are in it alone. It is these extraordinary, personal gestures that show us that is not the case at all, that our fellow citizens, civic organizations and businesses are behind us. This program is a nationwide show of solidarity in support for the families who are shouldering most of the burden of the war on terror.
Vivian Greentree is the director of research and policy for Blue Star Families. She lives in Chesapeake, Va.
