Museum of Ancient Wonders offers free admission on Saturday and Sundays to all residents of nine Coachella Valley municipalities

CATHEDRAL CITY — One of the Coachella Valley’s hidden treasures is located not in the wind-swept sands of the desert but right along East Palm Canyon Drive: Museum of Ancient Wonders.

The Museum, located in 7,400 square feet of empty retail space, opened its doors to the public on Oct. 26, 2019, with hundreds of students scheduled for field trips and a program set for lectures and musical performances. The museum was quickly shuttered five months later due to the global pandemic.

Since reopening in March 2021, tourists have been flocking to visit as a result of stunning 5-star reviews posted on Google Reviews, Trip Advisor, Yelp, and Facebook warning others not to let the unassuming storefront deter them from viewing the rare collections on exhibition, Alberto Acosta
Executive Director and Chief Curator, said.

Beginning Sept. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and from noon to 4 on Sundays, local families are invited to visit MoAW at no charge. This offer will end on December 31, 2022.

Free admission stems from a letter of request for funding to all nine Coachella Valley city mayors and council members. The purpose is to support free admission for residents who have not had the opportunity to visit the Valley’s newest museum destination.

The museum’s King Tut exhibition is currently on view at Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, to help fuel efforts here in Cathedral City.  View a link to a brief promotional video by clicking here.

Additionally, Palm Desert-based Heather James Fine Art gifted the museum with 108 extremely valuable authentic antiquities from Asia, Africa, and Mesoamerica.

Museum of Ancient Wonders Offers Free Admission

Alberto Acosta, Executive Director and Chief Curator

“Tourists to the Valley are always looking for things to do and quickly find MoAW an intriguing destination. Residents tend to visit when they have out-of-town guests. This is an opportunity for residents and students to become acquainted with the museum’s mission, and extensive diverse collections,” said MoAW’s founder, Executive Director and Chief Curator Alberto Acosta.

The Museum of Ancient Wonders was established to enhance universal curriculum development for local and surrounding public school districts, colleges, and universities, create museum diversity for the Coachella Valley, and support the vital hospitality industry with additional tourist product.

Free admission will require all attending residents to produce identification that lists a local address, signing of the registry, and filling out a brief survey identifying at least one object in the museum’s collections that inspired them to want to learn more about the subject. These completed surveys will be made available to all mayors and council members who participate in funding free admission to residents.

You may read some of the visitors’ reviews by clicking here.

MoAW is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and member of the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association, the American Alliance of Museums, and the California Association of Museums with financial contributions made by the National Endowment of Humanities, the California Humanities, Art Laboe Foundation, Inc., Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, the Cathedral City Historical Society, Members, and Patrons. For further information click here or call (442) 268-5004.

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