Every summer, the Georgia Museum of Art participates in Blue Star Museums, a program organized by the National Endowment for the Arts that offers free admission and special discounts to military personnel and their families from Armed Forces Day (May 21) through Labor Day (September 5). Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across the United States.
In addition, the Georgia Musuem of Art is offering an online exhibition to celebrate military artists — “Recognizing Artist Soldiers in the Permanent Collection” — which is updated regularly and includes artists who served in conflicts from the Revolutionary War through the Korean War. Each work of art includes details about the artist’s military service, from Paul Revere’s use of engineering skills to measure cannonballs to James McNeill Whistler’s expulsion from West Point for long hair and a bad attitude to war artists like John Singer Sargent and William Aylward. The exhibition also contains a link to a contact form through which visitors can submit ideas for other artists to include.