By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The Coral Gables Museum will open its galleries free to the public Saturday, July 18, for a Family Day on Aragon built around America250 programming, with children’s activities, exhibitions, a film screening, a chamber concert and a blood drive.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the museum, 285 Aragon Ave., and is presented in partnership with the Allapattah Collaborative CDC. It is part of the museum’s broader programming marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Family Day on Aragon is the museum’s monthly family program, combining free gallery admission with hands-on activities tied to current exhibitions and local history. This month’s installment centers on Many Voices, One Nation: En nuestras palabras, a bilingual exhibition connecting South Florida community stories to the broader American experience.
Games, treasure hunts and a bilingual exhibition
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., families can take part in games, treasure hunts, face painting and food trucks on the museum grounds.
The activities are organized around Many Voices, One Nation: En nuestras palabras, developed with the Allapattah Collaborative CDC and presented as part of the national America250 commemoration. The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the idea of “E pluribus unum” through oral histories, archival photographs, personal narratives and community memory. The exhibition is on view at the Coral Gables Museum from July 1 through Sept. 6.
Visitors will also have free access to the museum’s other current exhibitions, including Local Leadership, National Legacy: Coral Gables Mayors Across a Century, Life is a Barranquilla Carnival and Diplomacy and The Beautiful Game.
A founding-era film for families
From 2 to 4 p.m., the museum will screen the Disney short film Ben and Me, an animated story that imagines a mouse named Amos as the hidden inspiration behind Benjamin Franklin’s inventions and public life.
The film fits the day’s founding-era theme while keeping the afternoon programming geared toward families and younger visitors.
Music to close the day
The day closes with a 5 to 6 p.m. chamber performance by the Miami Symphony Orchestra.
The concert brings MISO’s classical programming into the museum’s intimate setting and requires an RSVP.
A blood drive outside the museum
Running alongside the museum programming, OneBlood will station its donor bus outside the museum from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Eligible donors will receive a $25 eGift card, a OneBlood T-shirt and a complimentary health screening. Appointments are recommended, though walk-ins are welcome.
What to know
Family Day on Aragon runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 18, at the Coral Gables Museum, 285 Aragon Ave.
Admission to all galleries is free throughout the day. Games, treasure hunts, face painting and food trucks run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Ben and Me screens from 2 to 4 p.m.; and the Miami Symphony Orchestra performs from 5 to 6 p.m., with RSVP required for the concert.
The OneBlood donor bus will be on site from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
