This summer Brigham Young University is the place for summer fun, family-friendly activities. BYU offers a variety of museums, workshops and camps that are perfect for children, visitors, youth groups and families, and many of them are free. See the listings below to find something for everyone to enjoy. For holiday hours, please contact the individual site.
Conferences and Workshops
BYU Conferences and Workshops offer a wide variety of dance, music and academic summer camps for adults, children and youth, as well as education workshops for teachers. For more information, visit conferences.byu.edu or call (801) 422-3559.
Sports Camps
BYU Athletics will be hosting more than 60 different sports camps and clinics. Campers at BYU get a unique experience with top-caliber training from nationally recognized coaches and athletes in an environment that is nurturing to both body and spirit. For more information, visit byucougars.com/SportsCamps, call (801) 422-5724 or email sportscamps@byu.edu.
Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center
Visitors to the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center can take a tour of campus on one of its shuttles. Call (801) 422-4678 for a tour that begins at the Center. Tours run on the hour weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition, the Shelley Center in the Hinckley Center has kiosks with information and rankings regarding BYU as well as films about the university. For more information, call (801) 422-3257. The Center is closed Sundays and holidays.
BYU Museum of Art
The Museum of Art is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Friday offers extended hours until 9 p.m. Admission is free. Tours are also available.
Current exhibits at the MOA include:
- “Beauty and Belief” features more than 250 objects of Islamic art from 50 lenders in the United States and nine other countries in Europe and the Middle East. The exhibit shows that this form of art is shaped by Islamic cultural beliefs and aims to correct an assumption held by Muslims and non-Muslims alike that the art of Islam is devoid of figurative representation. The exhibit closes Sept. 29.
- “People in a Hard Land” is a new exhibition that focuses on memorable images of people in the American Southwest that will run through Jan. 19, 2013. It explores subjects in Southwestern art that have appeared with sufficient frequency and poignancy to become truly iconic, ranging from American Indians to pioneers.
For more information, visit moa.byu.edu or call (801) 422-ARTS.
“Education in Zion” Exhibit
“Education in Zion” tells the story of education in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith to the contemporary educational program that benefits the worldwide Church today. The exhibit, located in the Joseph F. Smith Building, is open Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tours of the “Education in Zion” exhibition start at 1 p.m. every weekday. These tours will begin in the lobby on the main floor of the Joseph F. Smith Building. Come prepared to learn and experience the inspiring stories of educators of the past. For large groups, call the gallery information desk at (801) 422-6519.
In addition to the permanent exhibition on the second floor, the gallery includes exhibit spaces on the third floor and lower level for rotating exhibitions. These spaces highlight and display the contemporary educational endeavors of BYU and the Church. The current exhibition on rotated display is “60 Years of Nursing” which showcases six decades of nursing education at BYU.
For scheduling large tours or for more information, visit educationinzion.byu.edu or call (801) 422-6519.
Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum
The Monte L. Bean Museum will be CLOSING TEMPORARILY July 1 and is not scheduled to reopen until sometime during the fall of 2013.
The Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, located southeast of the Marriott Center, has a variety of displays and activities for children and adults. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to most exhibits and events is free.
The Bean Museum offers free live animal shows Mondays at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 and 3 p.m.
Every Wednesday at 11 a.m., children ages 10 and younger can enjoy story time at the Bean Museum, with books of animals and nature read by a professional storyteller. Live animals are also showcased. Story time is free each week, and registration is not necessary.
The museum invites the public to explore Africa in its newest exhibit, “Into Africa: Exploring Nature’s Interactions,” now on display. This exhibit is free and open to the public. Visitors will have the opportunity to identify animals using the new iPad and iPhone app that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store. iPads will be available to check out for the exhibit for $3.
For more information about Bean Museum events or registration, visit mlbean.byu.edu or call (801) 422-5051.
Museum of Paleontology
The BYU Museum of Paleontology (formerly the Earth Science Museum) on Canyon Road west of LaVell Edwards Stadium offers visitors a view of real fossils. The museum, located at 1683 N. Canyon Road in Provo, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with extended family night hours Monday from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is free.
The Museum of Paleontology, formerly the Earth Science Museum, was expanded to display most of its collection. With the new 5,000 square-foot addition, the museum features a replica of a 9-foot-long triceratops skull from Montana, dinosaur bones found last summer near Moab, a Cretaceous nest, dinosaur skeletons of a Camptosaurus and an Allosaurus and a mural of the Utah-Colorado region in the Jurassic Period. Visitors can touch real fossils and view fossils being prepared in the active laboratory.
For more information about the Museum of Paleontology’s activities and displays, visit cpms.byu.edu or call (801) 422-3680.
Museum of Peoples and Cultures
The Museum of Peoples and Cultures, located at 700 N. 100 E. in Provo, recently opened a new exhibit, “Concealing Faces, Revealing Expressions: Masks in Mexico.” Regular museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
The MPC offers family home evening nights May 21, June 18 and July 9. There is a 6:30 p.m. FHE for families from the community and a 7 p.m. FHE for student FHE groups. Reservations are required and cost $5 ($10 for groups over 15). Call (801) 422-0020 to make a reservation. Reservations must be made by noon on the day the group wants to attend. The July FHE night will be an expanded open-house special event, “Passports,” an international experience, from 4 to 7 p.m. Registration will not be required for July’s FHE night.
Mornings@the Museum is a free, hour-long program designed for children from ages 5 to 11 and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. June 5 to Aug. 2. Accompanied by their parents, children will have the chance to explore and learn about new cultures. Each session includes a cultural presentation and a hands-on activity that children will get to take home. The themes for 2012 are “Mexican Masks,” “The Art of Maya Textiles” and “Games from Around the World.” The event is free, but space is limited and reservations at (801) 422-0020 are required for attendance.
Adventures in Anthropology is a free, hour-long program designed for children from ages 12 to 16 and will take place July 5, 12 and 19 at the same time as the Mornings@the Museum. The themes are “Backstage Archeology,” “The Art of Maya Textiles” and “Mexican Masks.” The event is free, but space is limited and reservations at (801) 422-0020 are required for attendance.
For more information about MPC events, visit mpc.byu.edu or call (801) 422-0020.
Royden G. Derrick Planetarium
The Royden G. Derrick Planetarium at BYU’s Eyring Science Center offers Friday shows hosted by the BYU Astronomical Society from 7 to 8 p.m. and 8 to 9 p.m. Tickets go on sale at the planetarium door starting at 6:30 p.m. and are $2 each. The planetarium shows are given with the theatre lights off; please do not bring children too young to enjoy the shows. Visit the planetarium.byu.edu to confirm availability.
The Derrick Planetarium also hosts outreach shows Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10 to 11 a.m. These shows can be scheduled by groups of at least 20 people or more. Boy Scout, Young Men and Young Women groups are invited to attend. Groups must have at least 20 people. For a schedule of shows and more information, visit planetarium.byu.edu.
Harold B. Lee Library Family History Library
Individuals interested in family history and genealogy are welcome at the Family History Library, 2250 Lee Library, open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to midnight and Saturday 8 a.m. to midnight, with additional hours on the second and fourth Sundays of each month from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It is closed on holidays. Family history consultants and classes are available during most hours of the day. Admission is free. For more information, visit lib.byu.edu/sites/familyhistory or call (801) 422-6200.
For access to the BYU events calendar, visit byunews.byu.edu/calendar.
Follow BYU events on Twitter: @BYUcalendar.
Writer: Preston Wittwer
