Another way you may be able to get free admission to museums in Wichita and throughout the U.S. is through reciprocal programs. Often when you purchase a membership to one museum, you’re granted access to a reciprocal program, which gives you either free or discounted admission to similar museums in other cities. These memberships are not all the same, so you’ll absolutely want to read the fine print. Here are some examples of reciprocal programs of museums in Wichita:

• Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum members get access to the Time Travelers program. According to its website, it has 300 historical museums participating in its program around the country, nine of which are in the state of Kansas. If you’re a member of one, you’ll get free admission, gift shop discounts, and/or other benefits at the others.
• Exploration Place membership gives you access to the widely accepted ASTC Travel Passport program, which includes free or discounted admission to science and technology museums worldwide. This reciprocating program, however, does exclude any museums within 90 miles of your residence and the museum of which you are a member. (And that’s a fairly common practice.) To give you an idea of the breadth of this program, their list of participating museums is 32 pages long!
• Botanica members receive free or discounted admission to over 300 botanical gardens, arboreta & conservatories through the American Horticulture Society reciprocal program. Again, this one may have some restrictions regarding local competing gardens within a 90-mile radius, but if you travel it can be a great benefit of membership.