Nonprofit Adds Lowell Observatory, Tucson Desert Art Museum, Talking Book Library to its Culture Pass Program
Act One’s community program enables residents across the state to explore arts activities, cultural experiences and museums at no cost.
(January 2, 2025 – PHOENIX) Act One, an Arizona-based nonprofit organization that provides arts and cultural experiences to kids and families at no cost, recently added three new community partners to its Culture Pass program.
Arizona residents with a valid library card can obtain two individual passes to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff and the Tucson Desert Art Museum in Southern Arizona. To use, Arizona residents can stop by one of the more than 190 libraries statewide to “check out” the Act One Culture Pass. Participants will receive a receipt from the library that can be taken to the art or culture partner to exchange for free entrance. Once individuals check out a pass at a local library, they have seven days to redeem the tickets at the location. Each library has a designated number of passes for the public each week.
The Act One Culture Pass provides access for students, seniors and under-resourced families to visit many of Arizona’s arts and cultural treasures at no cost. Passes are good for free admission for two individuals to specific arts and cultural institutions in the local area and throughout the state.
“New organizational partnerships with the Act One Culture Pass program bring exciting opportunities for all of our local communities to access new arts and cultural experiences,” said Anne Osborne, Act One Culture Pass manager. “Plus, it’s the perfect opportunity to encourage Arizonans to get out of the house and explore the state, not to mention to enjoy the beautiful winter weather here.”
Act One is also partnering with the Talking Book Library. This organization provides services to Arizona residents who are unable to read standard print books due to blindness or low vision, as well as individuals who have reading disabilities or who find it hard to hold or handle a print book.
“An accessibility analysis was recently conducted to uncover participating Culture Pass partners that offer accommodations for individuals with impaired sight,” said Osborne. “Some of them include Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg and S’edav Va’aki Museum in Phoenix. Currently 11 of the 25 Culture Pass partners offer accessibility options for individuals with impaired sight and many of those who do not currently offer those are actively working to create them.”
This winter there are 25 arts and cultural venues and 9 performing arts organizations that are part of the program. In Metro Phoenix, the culture pass can be used at dozens of well-known establishments including the Desert Botanical Garden, Heard Museum and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. It also includes smaller and lesser-known facilities in the Valley like the River of Time Museum, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum and the Gilbert Historical Museum.
“Not only do we have exciting activities to explore in the Valley, but we also now have excellent community partners across the state from as far north as Flagstaff to as far south as Tucson and everything in between,” added Osborne. “There are many opportunities to take day trips and discover everything these cultural centers and museums have to offer all for the cost of just a tank of gas.”
In addition to the Lowell Observatory, those interested in exploring Northern Arizona can embrace the pines at the Arboretum at Flagstaff or spend the day with red rock art and culture at the Sedona Heritage Museum. In addition to the Tucson Desert Art Museum, community partners in Southern Arizona include the Tucson Botanical Gardens, the Tucson Museum of Art and the University of Arizona Museum of Art.
The Act One Culture Pass is also good at more than a dozen Phoenix and Tucson performing arts organizations, including the Arizona Opera, The Phoenix Symphony and programs at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
Since taking over management of the Culture Pass in 2013, Act One has offered more than 3 million passes to Arizona families.
To find a library that hosts the Culture Pass program, visit https://act1az.org/culture-
Act One makes meaningful arts experiences accessible to thousands of children and families in Arizona each year through field trips for pre-K through 12-grade students from Title I schools. The nonprofit organization also brings arts education directly to the classroom with its unique Arts Immersion™ Virtual Reality Field Trip program, launched in 2021 and facilitates the Culture Pass program in libraries across the state. For more information about these programs visit, www.act1az.org
