NEW YORK.-In celebration of "National Museum Month," Bank of America today launched the tenth season of Museums on Us(tm) by introducing the program in California. This expansion - the largest in the program's decade-long history - enables anyone with a Bank of America credit or check card or MBNA credit card plus one guest the opportunity to visit 86 of the nation's finest cultural institutions on both coasts for free during the month of May.

"Since we created the program ten years ago, we have seen strong participation in Museums on Us(tm) among cultural institutions and customers in the Northeast," said Anne M. Finucane, chief marketing officer, Bank of America. "Today, we are thrilled to announce that we will bring this nationally-recognized program to 25 institutions across the State of California. Through this program, we will continue to give our customers and their guests the opportunity to experience some of the finest art and culture our nation has to offer for free."

Museums on Us(tm) provides unparalleled access to some of the nation's greatest museums and cultural institutions. Over 74 million people in the U.S. have at least one eligible card that enables them and a guest to participate in the program.

In addition to the 25 participating institutions in California, 61 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont will open their doors to Bank of America and MBNA cardholders this May (full list appended below).

"Bank of America is one of the finest business supporters of the arts in America," said Judith A. Jedlicka, president, Business Committee for the Arts, Inc (BCA). "The company's Museums on Us(tm) program offers the public unprecedented access to many of this country's great cultural institutions. We are extremely pleased that the company is expanding this program and are proud that Bank of America, a founding member of the BCA and one of a select group of companies in the BCA Hall of Fame, continues its strong commitment to investing in the arts."

Participating institutions benefit from added exposure through an integrated marketing campaign that promotes the program in the 11 states in which Bank of America operates the month-long event. The marketing support increases visitor levels, revenue through gift shop purchases and membership.

Bank of America provides extensive sponsorship and philanthropic support to cultural institutions throughout the company's footprint. Participants in this year's Museums on Us(tm) program range from the nation's most renowned institutions - such as the Orange Country Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Art and the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington - to a number of other museums, science centers, historical societies, zoos and botanical gardens.

To further enhance its support of the arts, Bank of America extended its sponsorship of art exhibits to include traveling shows in multiple markets. In 2006, Bank of America served as exclusive corporate sponsor for Americans in Paris: 1860 - 1900 as it traveled from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Presently, the company is serving as the exclusive corporate sponsor for Matisse: Painter as Sculptor, currently on display at the Dallas Museum of Art and the neighboring Nasher Sculpture Center. The exhibit will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art later this year. Bank of America is serving as sponsor in all three cities.