Contacts
Emily Willson
Carnegie Museum of Art
willsone@cmoa.org
412.622.3328
Sloan MacRae
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
macraes@carnegiemnh.org
412.353.4678
Pittsburgh, PA—Following visitor feedback and market research, Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History announce extended Saturday hours this summer. As a cultural hub in Oakland, the museums are a destination for people of all ages during the summer months. This initiative broadens visitors’ options to experience the expansive collections, vibrant programming, and provocative exhibitions of both museums.
“As part of our strategic plan, we’re working on ways to become more visitor-centered,” says Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA) Henry J. Heinz Acting Co-Director Sarah Minnaert. “Extending the museum’s Saturday hours will help us further engage the community we serve, aid our long-term strategic goals as an organization, and differentiate the museums in an increasingly competitive cultural marketplace.”

Photo: Bryan Conley
The museums surveyed more than 1,700 visitors in 2018, capturing nearly equal numbers of members and non-members. The visitors overwhelmingly favored Saturday evenings, specifically the three-hour period from 5 to 8 p.m. that the museums will implement. Saturdays historically attract the most visitors to the Oakland museums, and Saturday visitors tend to spend more time in the galleries.
Beginning after Memorial Day, the museums will be open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., as well as Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the exceptions of July 27 and August 3. The museums will also be free to active U.S. Military personnel with up to four guests, as part of the Blue Star Museums program, which extends until Labor Day.
CMOA docents will offer specialized tours (free with admission) on Saturday evenings throughout the summer. The inaugural event on June 8 will investigate themes of love and lust in the museum’s collection. The museum will also launch a summer of film, showing rarely-screened art films from its collection throughout the season.
CMNH will offer new tours, live animal encounters, and two augmented reality experiences on Saturday evenings. Additional summer programming will be announced soon.
“Expanding our public hours makes us more relevant,” says Dr. Eric Dorfman, Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “Saturday evenings at the museums are perfect for date nights, meet-ups with friends, and engaging intellectually and emotionally with science and art after the school buses are gone.”
The Café Carnegie, the museums’ acclaimed restaurant under the direction of James Beard Award semi-finalist Sonja Finn, will offer its Thursday menu on Saturday evenings. The café will offer a selection of favorites like the skirt steak chopped salad, le hot dog, and the wild gulf shrimp roll. The kitchen will close at 7:30 p.m., but the bar will be open until 8 p.m.
For more details about exhibitions and programming, see the websites of Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
About Carnegie Museum of Art
Support
Major support for this exhibition is provided by Ritchie Battle and the Hurtt Foundation.
General operating support for Carnegie Museum of Art is provided by The Heinz Endowments and Allegheny Regional Asset District. Carnegie Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Mission
Carnegie Museum of Art creates experiences that connect people to art, ideas, and one another. The museum is committed to global engagement and regional advancement. We champion creativity and its importance to society with experiences that welcome, inspire, challenge, and inform. Our core activities—collecting, conserving, presenting, and interpreting works of art—make those experiences possible. Our collection of over 30,000 works emphasizes art, architecture, photography, and design from the 19th century to the present. One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art was founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1895. To learn more, please call 412.622.3131 or visit cmoa.org.
About Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Mission
To use our collections and scientific expertise to create knowledge that inspires an understanding of natural heritage, communicate and unity and interdependence of humanity and nature, and advocate for the protection of the earth and its inhabitants, while encouraging participation in the natural sciences.
###