Special to the Citizen

On Saturday, September 27, the Madison Museum of Fine Art will participate in the fourth annual Museum Day organized by Smithsonian Magazine. In this event, participating museums open their doors free of charge to visitors to the Smithsonian.com Web site and readers of Smithsonian Magazine.

Last year, upwards of 100,000 people attended Museum Day. All 50 states plus Puerto Rico were represented by 641 museums. Said Michele Bechtell, museum director, “We are pleased to be recognized in this month’s issue of Smithsonian Magazine and on the Smithsonian Museum Day Web site.

Smithsonian Museum Day offers everyone the chance to explore this museum’s fine collection of art including works by such well-loved artists as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dali and James Abbott McNeil Whistler.”

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the Madison Museum of Fine Art will feature refreshments, continuous art film, docent tours of the museum galleries and sculpture garden, and, for the young people, there will be balloons, face painting, and coloring book images of works in the museum’s permanent collection.

Attendees must present Smithsonian Magazine’s Admission Card to gain free entry, and it can be obtained in two ways. The Free Admission Card is available in the September 2008 issue of Smithsonian Magazine or it can be obtained through a free downloadable version available on the Museum Day Web site at  www.smithsonian.com/museumday.

Described as a “gem of a museum,” the Madison Museum of Fine Art is a non-profit charitable institution that collects, preserves, interprets and imaginatively displays original art by historically significant artists from around the world for the education, edification and spiritual nourishment of all persons living and traveling in Georgia’s Lake County. The Museum is located on the downtown Courthouse Square at 290 Hancock Street in Madison. It is not affiliated with the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. For more information, contact (706) 485-4530,   www.madisonmuseum.org or www.smithsonian.com/museumday. Smithsonian Magazine has a circulation of more than two million. This multimedia network is also affiliated with the world’s most visited museum and research complexes at the Smithsonian Institution.