This summer Brigham Young University is the place for fun, family-friendly activities through a variety of museums, workshops and camps that are perfect for children, visitors, youth groups and families, and many of the activities 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) 422-8925.
Sports Camps
BYU Athletics will be hosting more than 70 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
The Shelley Center in the Hinckley Center has kiosks with information and rankings regarding BYU as well as films about the university’s rich history. For more information, call (801) 422-4431. The center is closed Sundays and holidays.
Campus Tours
Experience the Spirit of the Y! Guests of the university will be taken by tour cart throughout campus by an experienced guide who will present BYU's rich heritage and educational philosophy. Tours run on the hour Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center. To schedule a tour, call (801) 422-4678.
BYU Museum of Art
The Museum of Art is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Friday hours extend until 9 p.m. Admission is free. Tours, lectures and workshops are also available.
Current exhibits at the MOA include:
- “michael whiting: 8-bit modern” invites visitors to wander through the museum’s outdoor Sculpture Garden and consider how Whiting’s brightly painted, massive, pixilated sculptures explore the visual relationship between early video games and 1960s minimalism. The exhibit closes Sept. 6.
- “Royal Nebeker: An Artist’s Journey” is a new exhibition of contemporary paintings. “I intend the viewer of my work to see not only a visual record of meaning in my life but discover the reflection of meaning in their own as in looking through a night window.” This exhibit closes Sept. 14.
- “Edward Burtynsky: The Industrial Sublime” is a collection of Burtynsky’s photographs of industrial spaces — from factories in China to mines in Canada — displaying what Burtynsky calls “the beauty in the beast.” The exhibit closes Nov. 16.
- “People in a Hard Land: Iconic Images of Life in the Southwest” presents how outstanding artists have portrayed the people of the Southwest, from American Indians to cowboys and pioneers, as they traveled, worked and made homes amid our region’s beautiful but difficult terrain. The exhibit closes Dec. 28.
- “Shaping America: Selected Works from the Permanent Collection of American Art” is a reinstallation of the museum’s permanent American collection that examines American identity, emphasizing the multicultural perspective intrinsic to the American experience. The exhibit closes March 2018.
- "Work To Do: Trent Alvey, Pam Bowman, Jann Haworth, Amy Jorgensen" explores the complex issues surrounding women's work and the unique gender politics of the Beehive state through the contemporary artworks of four artists living and creating in Utah. The exhibition closes Sept. 28.
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 exhibitions in the gallery are “Famous Politicians Who Have Visited BYU” (ends Aug. 2), “Cosmo: The Credentials of a Cougar” (ends Aug. 2) and “The Healer’s Art: A Celebration of the College of Nursing” (ends Nov. 20).
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 Life Science Museum is closed for renovation and is not scheduled to reopen until spring 2014.
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. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
The museum has been 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’s activities and displays, visit cpms.byu.edu/MP/index.html 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,” joining another exhibit, “Entwined: A Vibrant Heritage of the Modern Maya,” which teaches about textile creation, a tradition carried on through the generations. Regular museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
The MPC offers family home evening nights May 20, June 10 and July 8. 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 ages 5 to 11 and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m., June 4 to Aug. 1. 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 be able to take home. The themes for 2013 are “Ancient Egypt,” “Masks from Around the World” and “Clothes.” The event is free, but space is limited and reservations are required for attendance, (801) 422-0020
For more information about MPC events, visit mpc.byu.edu or call (801) 422-0020.
Royden G. Derrick Planetarium
The BYU Astronomical hosts Friday night shows at 7 and 8 p.m. in the Royden G. Derrick Planetarium at BYU’s Eyring Science Center. The planetarium is located at N465 Eyring Science Center next to the Spencer W. Kimball Tower on campus. Tickets are $2 a person (cash or check only) and are available at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. (no reservations). For more information and a complete schedule, visit planetarium.byu.edu.
As a service to the community, the BYU Planetarium also provides a few outreach shows for school groups, scout groups, youth groups, etc. for a discounted rate of $1 per person. These shows are given at regularly scheduled times. Please see the planetarium’s schedule for available show times. Reservations can be made by clicking on the desired time. The outreach shows are given by reservation only. Interested groups should request reservations at least a week in advance to ensure show time availability.
Harold B. Lee Library Family History Library
Individuals interested in family history and genealogy are welcome at the Family History Library, 2250 Lee Library. The Family History Library is open Monday through Friday, 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 calendar.byu.edu.
Follow BYU events on Twitter: @BYUcalendar.
Writer: Hwa Lee
