Free and Discounted Admission to Nearby Museums

*Always check the appropriate website before you go to find more information about the museum, hours, discounts, location, etc.

Always Free:

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art - Bainbridge Island

Bug Museum - Bremerton

Center for Wooden Boats - South Lake Union

Center on Contemporary Art - Pioneer Square

Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center - South Seattle

Frye Art Museum - First Hill

Kent Historical Museum - Kent

Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park - Pioneer Square

Microsoft Visitor Center - Redmond

Naval Undersea Museum - Keyport

NW Railway Museum - Snoqualmie

Olympic Sculpture Park - Waterfront

Pacific Bonsai Museum - Federal Way

Puget Sound Navy Museum - Bremerton

Washington Park Arboretum - Madison

Applicable Discounts:

Seattle Children’s Museum - Seattle Center

• Donation Only Hour: The last hour of every weekday (4-5pm)
• WA EBT or Food Stamps Card - Show your card at the box office and receive $1 per person daily admission for the card holder, your partner, and your dependent children
• WA DSHS Services Cards: Show your Services Card to receive free daily admission for the individual who is named on the card

Pay What You Wish

• Children’s Museum of Tacoma - Tacoma

• Job Carr Cabin Museum - Tacoma
• Log House Museum - West Seattle

Free Library Museum Passes

• King County Library allows patrons to print free passes from its website. Passes are available for Bellevue Arts Museum, KidsQuest Children’s Museum, and Washington State History Museum. Search Classes & Programs using the keyword “museum” to find available museum passes and dates. Or visit the Free Seattle Museum Pass page on the Seattle Public Library website.
• Bellevue Arts Museum
• KidsQuest Children’s Museum
• Log House Museum
• MoPOP
• SAM
• Seattle Aquarium
• WA State History Museum
• Wing Luke Museum
• More!
• Pierce County Library offers free passes that patrons can check out - 1 pass per museum for 3 weeks. You can check out passes to 3 different museums.
• Museum of Glass
• Tacoma Art Museum
• WA State History Museum

Free First Thursdays of Every Month

• Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture - University District
• Bainbridge Island Historical Museum - Bainbridge Island
• Henry Art Gallery - University District
• Kids Discovery Museum - Bainbridge Island
• Living Computer Museum - SODO
• Museum of Flight - South Seattle at Boeing Field / King County Airport
• Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) - South Lake Union
• Nordic Heritage Museum - Ballard
• NW African American Museum (NAAM) - Central District
• Seattle Art Museum (SAM) - Downtown
• Free first & second Thursdays
• NW Seaport - Lake Union Park
• Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) - Capitol Hill (CLOSED UNTIL 2019)
• Wing Luke Asian Museum - International District

Third Thursdays of Every Month

• KidsQuest Museum - South Bellevue - $1
• Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) - Tacoma - Free!
• Tacoma Museum of Glass - Tacoma - Free!
• WA State History Museum - Tacoma - Free!

Free first Fridays at Bellevue Arts Museum and Kitsap History Museum (Bremerton)

Free first Thursdays & Saturdays at Volunteer Park Conservatory - Capitol Hill

Free third Fridays from 5:30-9pm at Imagine Children’s Museum - Everett

Free first Wednesdays and Third Saturdays at Renton Historical Museum

Free first Thursdays and Sundays at White River Valley Museum - Auburn

Blue Star Museums (Free Admission for active duty, National Guard and Reserve Military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day)

• Bainbridge Island Historical Museum (Bainbridge Island)
• Kids Discovery Museum (Bainbridge Island)
• KidsQuest Children’s Museum (Bellevue)
• Kitsap History Museum (Bremerton)
• Harbor History Museum (Gig Harbor)
• Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (Seattle)
• Henry Art Gallery (Seattle)
• Museum of Flight (Seattle)
• Northwest African American Museum (Seattle)
• Wing Luke Museum (Seattle)
• Buffalo Soldiers Museum (Tacoma)
• Foss Waterway Seaport (Tacoma)
• Museum of Glass (Tacoma)
• Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma)
• Washington State History Museum (Tacoma)

Cinema on a Budget

Sometimes it’s fun to see a movie at the cinema and not have to pay a buttload of money for your ticket. Check out this list of local theaters that offer cheap or discounted tickets! In order based on location.

Central Cinema (Capitol Hill/Central District) -- $7 tickets if bought more than 24 hours in advance, $9 at the door. They also feature 99-cent showings during the week. Happy hour prices from 5:30-6:30.

Three Dollar Bill Cinema (Capitol Hill/Various) -- Offer viewings at various venues. Signature event is the Seattle Queer Film Festival held every October. Every first Monday at Re-Bar they host “Cineoke” where you can sing along. $8 - Doors open at 6:30, show 7pm.

Big Picture (Belltown) -- 21+ - $10.50 matinee (before 4:45) & happy hour tickets (Mon-Thurs shows before 6:30 - Drink specials too!). $18 “Bagels & Bloodys Sunday” screening (includes 1 movie ticket, bagels & cream cheese, plus a choice of a Bloody Mary, Mimosa or beer.  

SIFF Cinemas (Lower Queen Anne) -- offer $8 matinee tickets (before 4pm). If you plan on seeing lots of movies there they also have an annual membership ($55) that includes movie discounts, free popcorn, special events, and more.

Majestic Bay Theaters (Ballard) - Matinee prices for $10.50 before 4pm

Sundance Cinemas (U-district) -- All shows 21+ - Cheapest tickets are always the first matinee of the day, plus free or discounted parking. You can also join their (free) Sundance Partners Loyalty Program to earn points toward tickets.

Grand Illusion (U-District) -- $9 tickets (cash or check only) . You can also buy a $30 membership and get $4 off your ticket price for a year.

Varsity Theatre (U-District) -- Matinee (before 5pm) tickets for $8.50, students with valid UW ID (maybe Cornish too??) tickets for $8, Senior tickets $8.50 & Senior Tuesday $6.75.

The Crest (Shoreline) -- $4 weekday tickets

Ark Lodge Cinemas (Columbia City) - $8.75 for all movies before 4pm. Some nearby restaurants/lounges offer a discount when you show your same-day ticket.

Federal Way Gateway Movies 8 (Federal Way) -- $2 tickets, $1 on Tuesdays. Extra $2 for 3D films.

Blue Mouse Theatre (Tacoma) -- Tickets range $3-5

The Edmonds Theater (Edmonds) -- $8 tickets or $6 for shows before 5pm

During the summer, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings Regal Theaters feature $1 G and PG movies.

Lots of theaters offer cheaper tickets during the daytime (matinee) showings. Each theater is different, but it’s worth looking into if you’re looking for a cheaper ticket.

Good luck & enjoy!

Save Money on Textbooks: Art School Edition

Yes, yes, I know, you’re getting ready to attend an art school in the fall, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to buy textbooks for some of your classes. Lots of professors of HS classes and even some of your core classes will require you to have a “textbook” of some kind.

We don’t have a bookstore, so that’s not an option - though it wouldn’t be a good money saving option anyway. So you have no choice but to look elsewhere. Depending on the class, and the book you’re looking for, you’ve got some options below for you to pick from.

First, check your syllabus. Hopefully you're starting to get emails or information from your instructors that include a syllabus and information about the classes you've signed up for. Take a look at the syllabus and see what books are required for you to have.

Borrow or buy from someone. If you know of or can find someone who already has the book from taking the class in the past. If they don’t want to sell the book, ask them if you can borrow it for the semester. You can even offer them some money for the “rental” to make it more enticing for them.

Check Facebook. Every year there’s usually a group that’s made for the incoming class on Facebook. This is a great resource for lots of things, one being finding your books! A lot of upperclassmen will join the group and post things about things they’re selling or old books they want to get rid of. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, make a post! It also wouldn’t hurt to try and make a post in a different classes group to see if anybody has the book & would be willing to sell it to you or let you borrow it.

Head to the library. You won’t be able to keep the book for the entire semester but knowing that it’s available for use is good. Many professors will put the book on reserve for their class which makes the check out time shorter so it ensures that it will be there when you need it. If your professor is only using a few pages or chapters out of the book you can always make some copies to have on hand.  If our library doesn’t have it, check out some of the local public branches to see if they do! You can also speak to one of the Reference Librarians in our library and they will do whatever they can to help you find what you're looking for - even if that means requesting it from a different library!

Rent. There are lots of sites that offer the opportunity to rent the books you need which will usually be cheaper than buying the book for yourself. Plus you won’t have to figure out what to do with it when you don’t need it anymore! Check out these links for a few rental options and see if your book is available:

• Amazon
• Chegg
• Valore
• Barnes & Noble

Buy used. If none of the options work for you so far, consider going on the hunt for used versions of the book you need.

• Check out some local bookshops. There are a good number of students who decide to sell their old books locally to shops who are willing to buy them. Look at some shops on Capitol Hill (Twice Sold Tales), in Lower Queen Anne, etc. - places where you know a good number of students live off campus or shops that are near campus. You might get lucky and find exactly what you’re looking for!
• Check out these sites. These are just a few examples of some places to look online for good deals on used books.
• Slugbooks
• Amazon
• AbeBooks
• Half.com or Chegg

Buying new. If you’ve exhausted all of the other options or simply have to buy the book brand new, check out these ideas.

Buy an older edition. Contact your professor to see if purchasing a different edition of the book (assuming it has them) will work for the class. In most cases, this is just fine, but sometimes the professor is very specific about which edition they want you to work from.

Split the cost. If you know someone else who is going to be in the same class as you, reach out to them and see if they would be interested in sharing and splitting the cost of the book for the semester.

Buy it as an e-book. Ebooks are usually less expensive than purchasing a physical copy, plus you don’t have to lug it around with you. You’ll want to check with your professor, however, sometimes they’re not okay with the use of electronic devices in their classroom - even if it’s just for the book.

Sell your books at the end of the Semester. Provided that you didn't buy an e-book or rent a textbook, you're going to be faced with a decision. Do I need to keep this text book, or not? Will this help with my future courses or with my career? If you decide you won't need the books, there are a variety of places that you can try to sell them back for some of your money. The quickest and easiest is usually going to a local bookshop (Twice Sold Tales, Mercer Street Books, etc.) and seeing if they will buy your book(s) for cash or in-store credit. Other options for selling your books include Amazon, Craigslist, or even posting them on the Facebook page to see if anyone else is in need of the book.

You can also check out this awesome resource from The City University of New York for a master list of some great places to find some of the books you need.  

Good luck out there!