Free admission at KMA

A friend of mine was telling me today that Knoxville Museum of Art is doing away with admission prices for all of 2009. Apparently the current trend on the museum circuit is to offer free admission and rely on memberships, major gift donations, sponsorships and gift shop sales to survive. The KMA did a six-month test run of free admission last year and found that their visitor numbers increased big time. Parking is always free too.

If you like bringing your iPod along to art museums, KMA has free (there's that word again) podcasts available for download on iTunes. The podcasts focus on individual exhibits, so it's kind of like a free audio walking tour of the museum.

I've been told some of the upcoming exhibits are not to be missed -- The works of glassmaker Josh Simpson will be on exhibit from Feb. 6 through April 19, and the rumor is his hand-blown pieces are out of this world. As a movie fanatic, I'm looking forward to an exhibition featuring photographs of Hollywood stars from the 1920s to 1960s. The Made in Hollywood exhibit opens May 8 through Sept. 27.

I think it's a wonderful thing for KMA to be offering free admission/parking/podcasts during a time when many people can't afford to pay for these kind of things, so please support the museum with a visit!