Public access into the Museum for any visitors is permissible only upon presentation of a valid ticket, which must be paid in full before entering the Museum. Guests should only enter through the main visitor entrance.
Valid Sankofa Children’s Museum tickets must clearly state the date and time of the reservation and have a valid bar code that has never been previously scanned or redeemed.
We may restrict access to, or close, any portion of the facility and cancel ticket reservations without advance notice, reason, cause, or explanation at any time. SCMAC reserves the right to close any or all of its public facilities due to severe weather or other causes, as needed, and without advanced notice.
Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures assumes no responsibility for incidental costs associated with visits to the museum property, which may include, but are not limited to, transportation, parking, or lodging costs, even if ticket reservations are cancelled or revoked.
SCMAC will endeavor, if practicable, to provide advance notice on its website and other public places in the event of interruptions to normal operating hours and admissions to the Museum property, including, but not limited to, special events or weather-related events that affect the museum’s ticketing or reservation system.
The SCMAC will endeavor to honor all ticket reservations in good faith. Tickets may be revoked at any time at our sole discretion. Ticket prices and plans are subject to change, without notice, at the sole discretion of the SCMAC.
SCMAC tickets and associated service fees are nonrefundable. In the event of an unforeseen SCMAC closure, however, visitors with tickets for affected dates and/or times can reschedule for the next available time slot at no additional cost. Priority will be given to these visitors or they will be eligible for a full refund.
Access to restrooms inside the Museum is intended for ticketed Museum patrons and visitors to the gift shop (Sankofa African & World Bazaar) only.
Restroom access for non-ticket holders in extenuating situations may be granted at the sole discretion of museum security staff.
All groups of 20 individuals or more are required to designate their own “group leader” who is responsible for making ticket reservations/purchases, following proper SCMAC group check-in procedures (explained by Museum staff at the time of booking), maintaining control over the behavior of group members while on Museum property, and acting as the primary liaison between group members and Museum staff for the duration of the group’s visit.
All persons suffering bodily injury on Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures property, or having knowledge of damage to Museum property, are required to report the occurrence(s) to Museum staff immediately following the incident.
Proper decorum, personal behavior, and conduct are required from all visitors at all times in order to provide the entire visiting public with respect, and an equal opportunity to have an enriching and meaningful experience.
Dismissal from Museum property is warranted upon Museum staff’s determination that a visitor has engaged in disorderly or prohibited conduct. Disorderly conduct may include, but is not limited to, any of the following prohibited acts by visitors occurring anywhere on Museum property:
Visitors are prohibited from bringing the following items onto Sankofa Children’s Museum Property:
a. Any item deemed inappropriate by our staff
b. Marking instruments including spray paint, liquid paint, markers, glass cutters, and/or other implements that could be used to mark, dye/color, scratch, gouge, or otherwise deface property by mechanical or chemical means
c. Hazardous materials of any kind
d. Weapons and tools including firearms, knives, and cutting tools; realistic replicas of firearms; disabling chemicals like mace, pepper spray, tear gas, chlorine, liquid bleach, or compressed gasses or other potentially dangerous instruments; armaments or devices which can cause bodily harm to visitors, Museum Staff, or others, and/or physical harm to Museum property; or any items specifically prohibited to possess as per Maryland State Penal Code
e. Explosives, including fireworks
f. Noise-making or amplification devices, including but not limited to, radios and bull horns
g. Alcoholic beverages
h. Controlled substances
i. Narcotics which use is strictly prohibited by governmental regulation
j. Powdered substances, liquid soaps, and bubbles
k. Glass bottles
l. Alkali metals
m. Rope, wire of any kind, or any device used to attach or hang posters onto any structure or tree.
SCMAC staff reserve the right to refuse access and/or photo, video, or audio-recording rights to any visitor or group, at anytime, anywhere on Museum property.
Any visitors to SCMAC property, including members of the press/news media, must respect all other visitors, and must also realize that not all visitors wish to be photographed, videotaped, recorded, or bothered in any other manner.
The following are prohibited on all Museum property, unless otherwise authorized by designated Museum Staff:
a. Taking photographs, videos, and/or audio recordings for advertising or commercial purposes, which includes, but is not limited to, publishing, selling, reproducing, transferring, distributing, or otherwise commercially exploiting the recorded media in any manner whatsoever
b. Using cameras and/or audio-recording devices in any security screening area, other restricted areas, or in internal offices
c. Using tripods and/or professional camera and/or audio-recording equipment
d. If professional camera and/or audio-recording equipment is officially authorized for use on Museum property, then it is done onsite at the discretion of Museum security staff.
Inside the Museum, personal photos, video, and/or audio recordings are permitted for private, noncommercial use only, and in all cases so long as the activity does not impede pedestrian traffic in any way.
Cellular phones must be silenced, and not used for placing calls, while visitors are in the Museum’s exhibition spaces. Phone calls can be made outside of museum premises.
If visitors are using a smartphone with an audio component to provide information, they must use personal headphones, or keep the device silent, while in the exhibition spaces.
Animals and pets are not allowed on, or inside Museum property, except for service animals.
Strollers are permitted in the museum lobby area only but not in the exhibition spaces inside the Museum.
Members of the news media will bear responsibility for acquiring all necessary releases from filmed or interviewed visitors on Museum property. Any apparent loitering or harassment of Museum visitors who do not wish to be interviewed, photographed, or filmed will result in dismissal from Museum property, at the sole discretion of Museum staff.
Credentialed members of the news media who wish to report, interview, photograph, or record are encouraged to notify and arrange with designated Staff prior to their arrival.
Members of the media, professional photographers, videographers, artists, etc., may use information obtained from the Museum, both physically and from Museum staff or its designees, solely for the purposes of reporting information related to the following:
a. Programs presented by SCMAC, Museum staff, and/or its designees and constituent organizations
b. General information about any activity currently or historically that is taking or has taken place on or near what is now SCMAC property
c. Anything, directly or indirectly, related to the organization or operation of Museum property.
Any person who violates any provision of Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures’ visitor rules and regulations is subject to dismissal from the Museum property. A violator’s reentry may also be prohibited at the discretion of Museum staff. In such cases where warranted, the Baltimore Police Department will be contacted for assistance and criminal charges filed.
Please support our mission to bring Africa’s history and diverse cultures to our youth, who will be able to see, do, touch, and enjoy new experiences through the lens of art and culture. Your donations are 100% tax deductible.
