Custom House Maritime Offers Free Admission on Smithsonian Mag's Museum Day 9/25

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, the Custom House Maritime Museum will participate in Smithsonian Magazine's sixth annual Museum Day, presented by Toyota on behalf of the redesigned 2011 Avalon. The Custom House Maritime Museum will join participating museums and cultural institutions nationwide to open their doors free of charge to all visitors who download the Museum Day Ticket from Smithsonian.com. A journey to celebrate our world's dynamic heritage and cultural life, participating Museum Day venues emulate the free admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution's Washington, D.C.-based facilities.

Museum Day 2010 is poised to be the largest to date, outdoing last year's record-breaking event. Over 300,000 museum-goers and 1,300 venues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in Museum Day 2009. Last year, two million visitors logged on to www.smithsonian.com/museumday to learn more about the program.

"It is important for the Custom House to be part of the larger museum community," said Susan Tamulevich, director at the Custom House. "We present exhibitions of national significance, such as our new show about Jboats, the 2010 Boat of the Year, and our Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer exhibition about the 19th-c designer of the first clipper ships-and both designers are from Stonington. Our Amistad exhibition is another important story with international importance. In fact, we brought that exhibition to United Nations headquarters prior to installing it here this past May."

The Custom House Maritime Museum/New London Maritime Society's mission is to preserve New London's U.S. Custom House and New London Harbor Light, and to promote and interpret the maritime history of the port of New London and the surrounding region through museum exhibitions and educational programs.

This year, Toyota will enhance the Museum Day experience both in Smithsonian magazine and online, with elements like the "Featured Five," a listing that encourages visitors to learn about and visit participating museums and venues. Additionally, for each visitor who inquires about the new Toyota Avalon online, Toyota will donate $1-up to $10,000 total-to museum programming nationwide.

The Museum Day Ticket is available to download at www.smithsonian.com/museumday. Visitors who present the official pass will gain free admission for two people to participating museums and cultural venues. One ticket is permitted per household, per email address. Listings and links to participating museums' and sponsors' sites can be found at www.smithsonian.com/museumday.

About Smithsonian Media

Smithsonian Media comprises Smithsonian magazine, Air & Space, goSmithsonian, Smithsonian Media Digital Network and the Smithsonian Channel. Smithsonian Media's flagship publication, Smithsonian magazine, is one of the nation's largest magazines with a circulation of more than 2 million and nearly 7 million readers. Smithsonian Media is a division of Smithsonian Enterprises, the revenue-generating business unit of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum and research complex consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the NationalZoologicalPark and nine research facilities. Approximately 30 million people from around the world visited the Smithsonian in 2009.

About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs more than 34,000 people in the U.S. and sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com, www.lexus.com, www.scion.com 

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