Manitowoc area heritage, maritime history, printing history, historic artwork and past and present agriculture can all be appreciated from Thursday, May 16 through Sunday, May 19, as six of the community's organizations join together for a "Member Swap Weekend."
Members of Farm Wisconsin, the Manitowoc County Historical Society, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Hamilton Wood-Type & Printing Museum, The Rahr-West Art Museum and Rogers Street Fishing Village can experience all of these local museums from Thursday May 16 through Sunday May 19, with specific hours varying by each organization. This weekend allows members of any of these organizations to visit any of the other five free of charge.
To visit, show your membership card for walk-up admission at the participating museums. Number admitted free depends on your membership level.
All six area museums have something special to offer. The Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center is a state-of-the-art, interactive agricultural education with 10,000 square feet of hands-on learning opportunities, and a birthing barn where visitors may watch calves being born daily. The Manitowoc County Historical Society features 60 acres and over 30 historic structures from throughout Manitowoc County including the Shadyside School, Collins Depot and Meeme Poll House. Visitors to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum will experience the Midwest's largest maritime museum, where kids and adults can tour of the nation’s most completely restored WWII submarine, the USS COBIA, discover a gallery dedicated to Wisconsin-built recreational boats, or time-travel back to a 19th century shipbuilding town. Hamilton Wood-Type & Printing Museum has the world’s greatest collection of type and the tools to use it. Guests can tour over 40,000 square feet of printing history from slabs of rough-cut maple to row upon row of exquisite type. The Rahr-West Art Museum combines a visitor friendly atmosphere with a beautifully constructed late 19th century Victorian mansion and extends to a 20th century art exhibition wing; works in the museum collection include such notables as Picasso, a Georgia O'Keeffe, Andy Warhol; or even Mary Cassatt. Finally, Rogers Street Fishing Village exhibits an 1886 historic lighthouse, shipwreck displays and artifacts, and commercial fishing exhibits; for over 175 years, commercial fishermen have battled Lake Michigan for their living and even today, fish tugs haul in the day’s catch.
Any person showing their museum membership card are admitted free of charge to the other museums that day. People with family memberships need to show one card per family member. Charges may apply for additional experiences at each museum.
People who are not members of any of these six museums are encouraged to join one or all to participate in the May 16 through 19 activities as well as take part in the many other benefits membership provides. |
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