Free museum days are your ticket to culture

Sandra Phillips

July, 2010

Summer in our city is always fun. If your budget is tight, it’s terrific to be able to go out on the town and not have to pay a cent.

Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal focuses on modern art, so the colour and forms are usually quite appealing to children, and it’s always free for kids under 12. They are a partner in the exhibition Montréal City of Glass, and have a wow exhibit called With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass. 185 Ste. Catherine St. W. 514-847-6226. Free hours: Wed. 5-9 pm. macm.org

Canadian Centre for Architecture includes exhibits on urban planning, landscape design research and collection dating. Nowadays, the CCA galleries are transformed into cinematic screening rooms to present a range of artistic, scientific and experimental films. There’s an exhibit relating to space and to Chicago skyscrapers. Children’s Days in the garden are July 11 and 25, 2:30-4:30 pm ($10 per family). 1920 Baile St. Phone: 514-939-7026. Free hours: Thurs. 5:30-9 pm. Students & children always visit free. cca.qc.ca

Musée des Beaux-Arts: At the permanent exhibition, find Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Rembrandt, Renoir, Dali, Corot, and more. Showing now is a Miles Davis exhibit, 20 exceptional jewellery pieces inspired by the Cirque du Soleil and created by Paris jeweller Bourgeron, and an exhibit on Napoléon. 1379 Sherbrooke St. W. 514-285-1600. Free hours: every day, but temporary exhibits are half-price Wed. 5:30-8:30 p.m. Children under 12 are always free. mmfa.qc.ca

Architecture museum discusses Chicago’s skyline. Photo:Hayley Juhl

McCord Museum of Canadian History: See costumes, textiles, decorative arts, ethnology, drawings, photographs and First Nations collections, from the 18th century to the present. On now: Being Irish in Quebec, Cirque du Soleil costumes and Nancy Ackerman’s photographs of aboriginal women. 690 Sherbrooke St. W. 514-398-7100. Free hours: First Saturday of each month, 10 am-noon. Children 5 and under are always free. mccord-museum.qc.ca

Redpath Museum on the McGill University campus is in a gorgeous, grand home. It holds real gems, dinosaur bones, sea shells, skulls, skeletons, stuffed animals, fossilized plants and Egyptian mummies, as well as African musical instruments. McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke St. at McTavish St. 514-398-4086. Always free. mcgill.ca/redpath.