Your Guide To The Cheapest, Classiest Parties In The U.S.

Late nights and museums, they are not just for Ben Stiller anymore. The cool crowd is making museum-going hip again, and they don't need animated dinosaur skeletons to do it.

Coast to coast, in an effort to win over a new audience, museums are offering special events for the atypical museum visitor. Think young and fun. They're called the “creative class,” says Sarah Stifler, associate director of communications at the Hammer a University of California, Los Angeles museum.

It seems to be working. At the Brooklyn Museum in New York, during the run of the recent Murakami exhibit more than 15,000 party-goers came out for first Saturdays. And in Los Angeles, 2,000 to 4,000 catch the tram up for The Getty Museum’s first Friday events that are geared towards a 21-35 year-old audience in an effort to introduce the museum to a “new crowd,” says Kim Sadler, marketing project coordinator at the Getty.

At many of the events, visitors can expect popular local and national DJs like, DJ Spinna or DJ Kids Hops. The Seattle Art Museum’s “Remix” first Fridays has brought out hundreds in a concerted effort to “ingrain the museum into the fabric of the life” of its community, says Nicole Griffin.

Here's MainStreet's guide to summer museum fun:

ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO
WHAT: Billed as "Matcha," this event stirs up "servings of art, performance and music" the first Thursday of every month from 5 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, Calif.
HOW MUCH: Free with museum admission, $5 after 5 p.m.