Quincy Museum’s voucher program brings in hundreds of visitors during holiday break

QUINCY — Arts Quincy provided every K-5 student in Adams and Brown counties with a voucher to tour the Quincy Museum during their holiday break. This initiative brought in hundreds of visitors, allowing students to bring guests to tour and create lasting memories.

Laura Sievert, executive director of Arts Quincy, emphasized in a press release the importance of families spending quality time together during the holidays. She believes the community’s arts council can help create meaningful moments and memories centered around arts and culture.

“The Quincy Museum is an integral part of the community, and it was great to see so many families take advantage of this opportunity,” Sievert said. “This is all part of Arts Quincy’s broader mission to create opportunities for increased community arts access. We want families to enjoy all our arts and culture sector has to offer.”

The gift pass program is just one component of a larger effort, which includes in-school programming and field trips, that will give nearly 7,000 arts experiences to area students this year.

“We appreciate all the partners it takes to make these programs possible — the arts organizations hosting the programming, the school district, transportation departments, teachers and parents. It’s truly a connected community effort,” Sievert said.

Passes were given to students in Quincy’s public, parochial and alternative schools, county schools in Camp Point, Liberty, Mendon and Payson, as well as Brown County Elementary School and St. Mary’s School in Mount Sterling. Support from the Tracy Family Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council Agency and NEA, as well as donors of Arts Quincy, made this initiative possible.

The program more than doubled Quincy Museum’s normal visitor count in the month of December. Most visitors reported they had not been to the museum in many years.

The museum staff and volunteers decorated the parlor, den, great hall, dining rooms and sitting rooms for the season with Christmas trees, garlands, lights and beautiful decorations.

“Besides the holiday decorations, the Native American room and dinosaur exhibits were some of the favorite parts of the tour for families,” said Barbara Wilkinson-Fletcher, the museum’s director.

The museum is closed for the winter months and will reopen in April with new exhibits featuring local history displays on the second floor. Learn more at thequincymuseum.org.

Anyone with questions about this program should direct them to office@artsquincy.org. Become a sustaining member starting at $5 a month to benefit more community arts access programs. Visit artsquincy.org/support-us to sign up.