Blue Star Museums

LASM Offers Free Admission to Veterans, Military, & First RespondersThanks to Blue Star Museums Program, Sponsored by Special Risk Insurance dba VFIS of Miss/Lou  

The Louisiana Art & Science Museum (LASM) offers free admission year-round to veterans, active-duty military, first responders, and their families as part of the Blue Star Museums program, sponsored by Special Risk Insurance dba VFIS of Miss/Lou in memory of Eugene R. ‘Gene’ Witek, Fire Coordinator for Ascension Fire District #1.

This free admission program is presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and participating museums across America. 

Sponsorship by Special Risk Insurance dba VFIS of Miss/Lou has enabled the program to occur year-round at LASM, with 2,838 visitors receiving free admission to the museum and Irene W. Pennington Planetarium in 2023 and over 10,000 visitors benefiting from this program since the program was expanded at LASM in 2018. 

Over 20,000 veterans live in East Baton Rouge parish – nearly 5% of the parish’s population – and studies indicate that the arts play an important role in improving the health and wellness of this often underserved population in our community.

Special Risk Insurance dba VFIS of Miss/Lou, a nationally recognized insurer of Emergency Service Organizations and the Regional Director for Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services in Louisiana and Mississippi, fulfills the need for an innovative approach to insurance products and risk management services for the emergency service industry. Today, they provide insurance, education, training, and consulting to more than 15,000 emergency service clients in 49 states and Canada.