Old Salem, Reynolda House Offer Value in Joint Membership

Press Room

Monday, April 27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Karen Jarvis or Betsy Annese
Annese Public Relations, Inc.
336-722-1921

Winston-Salem, N.C. -- For the first time, two venerable museums — Old Salem Museums & Gardens and Reynolda House Museum of American Art— will team up to provide a special joint membership promotion for new or returning members. The promotion, available during May 2009, provides a dual/family membership to both museums for $125 — normally a cost of $200 if purchased separately. With Mother's Day just around the corner, this special promotion represents a unique and special gift opportunity to give Mom dual/family memberships and year-round discounts on gifts from museum stores.

The offer includes free admissions to Old Salem and Reynolda House, 10 percent discounts in the museum stores and all the benefits of the family-level membership offered at both museums. The promotion begins May 1 and ends May 31, 2009. Joint membership is valid for one year.

"We at Old Salem are thrilled to have Reynolda House's partnership in this promotion. It represents a fantastic value for the community," said Lee French, president and CEO. "The two institutions are distinct and complementary, and together represent significant periods in the history of Winston-Salem."

Old Salem depicts the lives of early Moravian settlers in Salem and serves as a reflection of life in the early South. Its family membership is regularly $125 per year. Reynolda House is the restored 1917 mansion of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds and features a nationally renowned collection of American art. Its family, or dual, membership is regularly $75.

French added that the promotion is significant for the two museums and encourages new members to become a part of a membership family at two nationally renowned and respected museums. "Old Salem recognizes the need to offer our members and the communities we serve an economically creative membership option so that more families can enjoy and experience the world-class collections that both museums offer, just minutes apart from one another."

Allison Perkins, executive director of Reynolda House, said, "We are delighted to collaborate with Old Salem on this offer and look forward to the possibilities of summer fun and year-long enrichment it will provide for families. It is an extraordinary value for our neighbors and friends in the Piedmont Triad to become members of these two treasures in our own backyard."

The offer will be available for purchase at each museum, or by calling Kelly Moon, manager of memberships at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, at kmoon@oldsalem.org, 336-721-7333 or visit www.oldsalem.org. New or returning members with questions about Reynolda House Museum of American Art can contact Claudia Moore Clark, assistant director of development, 336-758-5889 or clarkcm@reynoldahouse.org.

For media inquiries about the promotion or how museums are responding to the current challenges posed by the economy, contact Michelle Speas, vice president development & external relations at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, at mspeas@oldsalem.org or 336-721-7327. Media inquiries related to Reynolda House should be directed to Sarah Mansell, director of marketing & communications, at 336-758-5524 or manselss@reynoldahouse.org.

About Old Salem
Old Salem Museums & Gardens is one of America's most comprehensive history attractions. Its three museums — the Historic Town of Salem, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) and The Toy Museum at Old Salem — engage visitors in an educational and memorable historical experience about those who lived and worked in the early South. The Web site address is www.oldsalem.org.

About Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation's premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its permanent collection. Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features traveling and original exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events. The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails. For more information, please visit reynoldahouse.org or call 336.758.5150.

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