Summer Fridays in the Field

Explore your local ecosystem this summer at the Wagner’s Fridays in the Field! Beginning June 20th, the Wagner Teaching Garden will be open for independent educational exploration every Friday from 1 – 3:30pm.

The Wagner’s Teaching Garden is our most valuable classroom. Not only is our green space full of pollinator gardens, but it is also a certified Wildlife Habitat, Bird Habitat, and Monarch Waystation—our milkweed plants provide valuable nutrients for Monarch butterflies during their cross continental migration.

Visitors of all ages may borrow hand lenses for close observation of our urban ecosystem, use nature guides to help identify the different animals, trees, and rocks found in our yard, or take time to relax in the shade and draw from nature. Wagner staff will be available to facilitate use of materials, but Fridays in the Field is a mostly unguided opportunity to experience the Wagner Teaching Garden.

Visitors looking to attend Fridays in the Field must enter the museum through the front entrance on Montgomery street and check in with the front desk. Visitors who walk-in and visitors who preregister, here or through the 2025 Visit the Wagner Eventbrite, will have full access to the museum and access to the yard from 1pm – 3:30pm on Fridays.

Things to Know Before Your Visit

• Walk-in visitors are welcome. Advance registration is appreciated and will speed up your entry to the museum.

• There is no coat check or place to stow personal items – please travel light.

• The museum is located on the second floor of the building. There are 5 steps at the entryway and a flight of stairs to access the museum. It is not wheelchair accessible.

• To protect the specimens and our historic interiors, photography is not allowed in the museum. Open containers of food and drink are not permitted in the building.

•The Institute does not have a parking lot. Street parking on Montgomery Avenue and 17th Street is free. There is 2-hour free parking on Bouvier Street and on many blocks near the Wagner and metered parking on Cecil B. Moore Avenue. The nearest parking garage is at the Liacouras Center on 15th Street and Montgomery Avenue.

A dream that keeps growing…

In 1855, William Wagner had a dream of providing free science education to anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of background or ability to pay. Today, the Wagner offers more programs to more people than ever before! Your support helps us provide free education, not only through the museum, but through a wide range of courses, lectures, field trips, and children’s science programs. Donations also assist us in caring for the museum and library collections and in preserving our wonderful building, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. To learn more about what we do please visit our website.

Registration Information

In keeping with its original charter, admission is free—donations are suggested to ensure the future and quality of Wagner’s free education programs and to preserve its National Landmark building and collections.

Suggested Donations

$25/Family

$10/adult

$5/student

$0 – Wagner members

For any questions, please email tickets@wagnerfreeinstitute.org or call 215-763-6529 x17.

If you would like to check your membership status or become a member, please email KellyT@wagnerfreeinstitute.org or call 215-763-6529 x11.