ODESSA — The Historic Odessa Foundation recently announced it will join museums nationwide in the Blue Star Museums initiative, a program that provides free admission to active-duty U.S. military personnel and their families this summer. The 2023 program will begin on Armed Forces Day, May 20, and end on Labor Day, Sept. 4.

Find the list of participating museums at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and participating museums across America.

“We are very proud to be participating in this year’s Blue Star Museum initiative,” said Debbie Buckson, the Historic Odessa Foundation’s executive director.

“We look forward to welcoming our U.S. military personnel and their families to step back in time more than 250 years, explore our historic museum properties and grounds, and learn about life in a rural colonial village that played an important role in America’s early commercial history.”

“We thank the 2023 Blue Star Museums who invite military personnel and their families to experience the many wonders they have to offer, whether it’s a glimpse into the past, an encounter with awe-inspiring art, or a moment of discovery,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Historic Odessa is helping to enrich the lives of military families and build meaningful connections between our nation’s military and their local community.”

Blue Star Museums include children’s museums, art, science and history museums, zoos, gardens, lighthouses and more, and hail from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The list of participating museums will continue to develop as organizations are welcome to register to be a Blue Star Museum throughout the summer.

The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States military — Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy and Space Force, members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members.

Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card, DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.

Jack Lewis exhibit

The Historic Odessa Foundation is the northern Delaware venue for an exhibition of selected works by the late Delaware artist Jack Lewis. The exhibition, titled “Everyday Lives, Everyday People: The Work of Jack Lewis,” runs through July 2, in the Historic Odessa Visitors Center Art Gallery.

The selection of paintings by Mr. Lewis comes from the Nancy and Russell Suniewick Collection on loan from the Rehoboth Art League. In 2021, the Suniewicks, longtime friends of Mr. Lewis, and the executive producers of “If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home Now: A Film About Jack Lewis and Bridgeville, DE,” donated a collection of 52 paintings and various documents of the late artist to the Rehoboth Art League.

The works from the Nancy and Russell Suniewick Collection date from the 1930s to 1980s, and include portraits, domestic and foreign scenes, and an important early self-portrait.

Born in Baltimore, Mr. Lewis received a degree in art from Rutgers University in 1935. He arrived in Delaware in the late 1930s and was part of the Works Project Administration’s Civilian Conservation Corps. He first served as a painter in Leipsic and then, briefly in Lewes where he recorded, through his art, the activities of men working on mosquito control on the Delmarva Peninsula. His artwork debuted in 1936 at the V.I.A. Summer Art Exhibition where he continued to exhibit for many years.

When the Rehoboth Art League was established, he was given the first one-man show at the new organization. He was both an active exhibitor and an art instructor at the Art League for more than five decades. He had also regularly entertained at membership meetings with his accordion and his legendary Strolling Marionettes. Mr. Lewis was the author of several books of prose and illustration on subjects in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond. He taught art in Delaware public schools and various institutions.

For more information about Historic Odessa’s newest exhibition “Everyday Lives, Everyday People: The Work of Jack Lewis,” visit Historicodessa.org, or call 302-378-4119.