CJAD 800Am at 8:40am – Free Museums
Q 1: We’re tired of being stuck in our homes all winter, you have some ideas of outings that are Free to the public.
With our budget stretched tight after paying for holiday fun, it’s terrific to be able to go out on the town and not have to pay a cent. Museums which are nice and warm inside have a Free days and you can spend hours exploring.
Q 2: Of the art museums, which ones are open for Free and on which days?
Musee d’art contemporain du Montreal – This museum focuses on modern art, so the color and forms are usually quite appealing to children and its always free for kids under 12. This month there is an exhibit on urban architecture that dominate modern life. It examines the city, its buildings and its activities.
Location: 185 Ste. Catherine St. W.
Phone: 514-847-6226.
Free Hours: Wednesday 5 – 9 pm. Always Free for children under 12
www.macm.org
Musee des Beaux Arts: The entire permanent collection in the building on the north side of Sherbrooke is always free to the public. You can see art work by Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Rembrandt, Renoir, Dali, Corot, Courbet and more. Temporary shows are 1/2 price on Wednesday evenings.
Showing now is an exhibit on Global Warming: Scenes from a Planet under Pressure and Ben Weider’s Napoleon collection.
Location: 1379 Sherbrooke St. West
Phone: 514-285-1600
Free Hours: Everyday but temporary exhibits are ½ price Wed evenings 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Children under 12 are always Free
www.mmfa.qc.ca
Q 3: Some people don’t enjoy going to see artwork, what other options are there for them?
McCord Museum of Canadian History: Come here to see costumes, textiles, decorative arts, ethnology, drawings, photographs and First Nations collections. Collections goes from the 18th century to the present. On now: Being Irish in Quebec and one about Norman Bethune.
Location: 690 Sherbrooke St. West
Phone: 514-398-7100.
Free Hours: 1st Sat each month 10 a.m- noon. Children 5 & under are always Free.
www.mccord-museum.qc.ca
Canadian Centre for Architecture: It’s focus is architecture, 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 on speed and space. Selected by curators from the archives of NASA, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and UbuWeb, the films explore the impact of velocity and technology on our past, present and future.
Location: 1920 Baile St.
Phone: 514-939-7026
Free Hours: Thurs eves 5:30- 9. Students and children are always Free
www.cca.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.
Location: McGill Univiverstiy, Sherbrooke St. at McTavish St.
Phone: 514-398-4086.
Free Hour: Always Free
www.mcgill.ca/redpath
Q4: You haven’t spent anything for your entrance but you haven’t yet stepped into the gift shops, is it good idea to shop in them?
At the Musee des Beaux Arts de Montreal you can find prints of the artwork., jewelry counters sporting original designs by Quebec artisans, artist-inspired objects such as the brooches from parts of Impressionist paintings, toys stationery, serving pieces.
The Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal gift shop showcases cutting edge designs: costume jewelry designed by Anne-Marie Chagnon, Vanessa Yanow (look at her zipper necklaces), Michel de Bellefeuille, Sonia Ferland, Racine, Marianne Alexandre, and Carole Rivet. There are purses made out of recycled 45-rpm records, pens and desk accessories, Atelier Entre-peaux re-cyled sacs, Toma vases, glass objects, kitchen gadgets, Scrap Postal albums, key holders, Cloe dolls, wooden mind puzzles, note cards, and toys.
At the Musee Pointe a Calliere which is all about archeological history, you can buy Amerindian jewelry, wampum pouches, quill pen sets and Inukshuks.