Looking for stimulating yet budget-friendly things to do with your family and friends in August? Here are free admission days at Milwaukee’s museums.
Milwaukee Public Museum
Admission to the museum, 800 W. Wells St., is free on Sept. 3 and 17, courtesy of Kohl’s Thank You Thursdays. Reservations can be made up to a week in advance. Children must be accompanied by an adult to receive free admission.
A view down Chestnut street during a sneak peek at the new “Streets of Old Milwaukee” exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo by Rick Wood. RWOOD@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM ORG XMIT: MJS1511241740557446
Milwaukee Art Museum
Admission is pay-what-you-wish from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 3, 10, 17 and 24 as part of Thursday nights at MAM, 700 N. Art Museum Drive.
Children 12 and younger receive free admission to the art museum every day it is open, as do Wisconsin K-12 teachers with a valid school ID or pay stub.
RELATED: A look at the legacy of art museum’s Calatrava addition as it turns 25
Betty Brinn Children’s Museum
Admission to the museum is free Sept. 17 as part of Betty Brinn’s Community Access Day program. The museum is at 929 E. Wisconsin Ave.
Note: Children must be accompanied by an adult (18 years or older) at all times during Betty Brinn Children’s Museum visits. Adults visiting the museum must be visiting with a child or have a scheduled appointment.
Wehr Nature Center
As part of Free Parking Thursdays, parking is free at Wehr, 9701 W. College Ave., Franklin, on Sept. 24. Trails are open from dawn to dusk.
Charles Allis Art Museum
Admission is free Sept. 3 and the first Thursday of every month. The Allis is at 1801 N. Prospect Ave. The museum requests that people enter through the coach-house door located off the Royall Place driveway.
These museums are always free
Iké Udé’s “Sartorial Anarchy #26” is on view through Dec. 19 at Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art.
The Haggerty Museum of Art, at 1234 W. Tory Hill St. on the Marquette University campus, always has free admission; the museum has rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection and is open daily.
Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W. Brown Deer Road, River Hills, started offering free admission during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued since with support from donors.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Free admission days at Milwaukee museums in September 2026
