Act One Culture Pass available at all ASU Libraries

Phoenix-based Act One, which has provided educational field trips to the visual and performing arts for Arizona's underserved schools since 2011, has adopted the ever-popular Culture Pass Program. The Act One Culture Pass is available at 43 local libraries, and allows library-goers a free admission for two at participating arts and cultural institutions.

All that is needed is a library card.

Passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis. They are not renewable and “holds” cannot be placed on them, nor will library staff be able to pull them for you. The display for the Culture Pass Program is at the front of each library.

Library-goers find the destination in which they are interested, and take the card to the checkout desk. Staff give them a date-due slip admitting two people for a visit to the museum in the next seven days. Passes may be limited to general admission only. Special exhibitions may not be covered, and other restrictions may apply. One pass per family, two passes per month.

Linda “Mac” Perlich, a member of the Act One board of directors, says the founding mission of Act One is "to bring the arts to the school-age students in the Valley. To date, Act One has provided educational field trip experiences for more than 40,000 Valley and Tucson students, with a comprehensive educational plan that compliments the experience on stage.

"We know that arts education is vital, and this expansion into the visual arts, and expanding to include the family makes perfect sense. The Act One Culture Pass will bring families to the wonder-filled museums and attractions in the Valley," Perlich says.

“We are so excited that the programming is returning; patrons state how they've enjoyed checking out new places that they would not otherwise have thought of visiting,” says Teresa Becker from Mesa Public Library. “Because the Culture Pass Program requires users to own a library card, we've seen an increase in new card applications since the program's inception.”

Act One has also expanded the Culture Pass to include live performing arts.

Participating arts organizations include: Arcosanti-Cordes Junction, Arizona Historical Society, Museum at Papago Park, ASU Gammage, Ballet Arizona, Cave Creek Museum, Children’s Museum of Phoenix, Childsplay, Deer Valley Rock Art Center, Desert Botanical Garden, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, The Phoenix Symphony, Phoenix Zoo, Pueblo Grande Museum, Rossen House Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Superstition Mountain Museum.

Participating libraries include: Scottsdale Public, Phoenix Public, Peoria Public, Glendale Public, Chandler Public, Mesa Public, ASU, Cave Cree, Tempe, Buckeye and Apache Junction.