Museum Selfie Day2026 · Date · History · Messages
Museum and government cultural sources identify Museum Selfie Day as a Mar Dixon-created annual campaign on the third Wednesday of January.
About Museum Selfie Day
Museum Selfie Day is an international museum-participation campaign held on the third Wednesday in January, encouraging visitors and museum staff to share selfies made in or around museums and collections.
The reviewed history traces the campaign to museum advocate and cultural-project organizer Mar Dixon and the CultureThemes network, with the first Museum Selfie Day taking place on January 22, 2014.
Why Museum Selfie Day matters
The campaign uses a simple social-media format to make museum participation visible and approachable. Its original purpose was not to replace interpretation or scholarship, but to encourage people to enter museums, notice collections and join a shared public conversation around cultural spaces.
Museum Selfie Day is a grassroots cultural-engagement campaign rather than a statutory public holiday. Museums can choose whether and how to participate, and photography rules still depend on each institution and collection.
History of Museum Selfie Day
Contemporary coverage from January and March 2014 identifies Museum Selfie Day as a project developed by Mar Dixon with CultureThemes collaborators. Participants were invited to visit museums, take selfies and share them online using the #MuseumSelfie hashtag.
The first Museum Selfie Day took place on January 22, 2014. Public-history coverage published shortly afterward describes participation at institutions including the Harvard Museum of Natural History, while museum-sector reporting characterized the campaign as a way to make museums feel more participatory and less distant.
Later museum and government cultural sources continued to recognize Museum Selfie Day as an annual international campaign. The modern recurrence is the third Wednesday in January; in 2026 that fell on January 21.
The reviewed evidence does not establish a formal legal founding instrument, an adoption date, a single current worldwide facilitator, or a documented reason why the January timing or later third-Wednesday rule was selected.
How the observance developed
This timeline uses documented milestones from reviewed sources. Missing stages are left out rather than guessed.
Mar Dixon
Contemporary 2014 public-history and arts-sector coverage identifies Mar Dixon as the developer/originator of Museum Selfie Day and describes her launch of the initiative.
Mar Dixon / CultureThemes
Contemporary 2014 coverage describes Museum Selfie Day as the work or idea of Mar Dixon together with the CultureThemes project/collaborators; no government body is treated as the creator.
First documented observance
Contemporary 2014 accounts document participation on January 22 and later museum scholarship explicitly identifies that January 2014 event as the first Museum Selfie Day.
What the evidence establishes
Confirmed institutional roles and milestones are shown first. Details that could not be established from the reviewed sources are listed separately below.
6 fields not established in reviewed sources
How to Observe Museum Selfie Day
Visit a participating museum and check its photography policy before taking or sharing a selfie with an exhibit, artwork or gallery space.
Use a museum selfie as a starting point for learning: identify the object or collection in the image and add one accurate fact or source when you share it.
Invite friends or family to explore a museum together and compare which objects, rooms or stories each person notices most.
Museums can use the day to highlight visitor-friendly photography guidance, accessible collections, digital interpretation and responsible ways to share cultural material online.
Museum Selfie Day Facts
Museum Selfie Day is now observed on the third Wednesday in January.
Mar Dixon and the CultureThemes project are identified in contemporary 2014 coverage as the originators of the campaign.
For Museum Selfie Day, the first Museum Selfie Day took place on January 22, 2014.
The campaign asked museum visitors and professionals to share museum selfies online using the #MuseumSelfie hashtag.
Current museum and government cultural sources continue to recognize the observance, including 2026 museum-calendar coverage.
The reviewed sources do not establish a formal founding instrument, an adoption date, a single current global facilitator or the exact reason for the January date choice.
Museum Selfie Day Messages
Happy Museum Selfie Day—here’s to discovering collections, sharing curiosity and seeing museums from a fresh angle.
On Museum Selfie Day, may one photo lead to a closer look, a better question and a new appreciation for the stories museums preserve.
Wishing museum visitors and staff a creative Museum Selfie Day filled with thoughtful exploration and memorable discoveries.
Happy Museum Selfie Day to everyone using a camera, a caption and a little curiosity to connect more deeply with art, history, science and culture.
May Museum Selfie Day be a reminder to enjoy the photo, respect the collection and keep learning about what is behind the image.
Topic and context
What this page does not assume
- Keep the source-defined country, community, organizer or institutional scope; do not silently broaden it.
- Do not treat the title alone as proof of government recognition or public-holiday status.
- Do not add a creator, founding story or origin claim unless the supporting evidence establishes it.
Evidence & sources
Sources used across the guide are gathered here. Labels show how each source supports the page, and contextual references are kept separate from primary evidence.
Egypt State Information Service — museums participate in Museum Selfie Day (opens in a new tab)
Official Government
National Council on Public History — contemporary 2014 participation and origin context (opens in a new tab)
Taipei Fine Arts Museum Journal — museum research identifying Mar Dixon and the first January 2014 observance (opens in a new tab)
Discover Magazine — Museum Selfie Day recurrence and creator (opens in a new tab)
Established Publication
NISE Network — January 2026 museum calendar (opens in a new tab)
Museum Network
National Arts Program Foundation — contemporaneous 23 January 2014 coverage linking the idea to Culture Themes and Mar Dixon (opens in a new tab)
The Guardian — March 2014 report quoting/describing Mar Dixon’s launch of the initiative (opens in a new tab)
Understand it, compare it, then explore further
Start with the most common factual questions, then compare closely related observances and explore useful connections.
Frequently asked questions
When is Museum Selfie Day?
Third Wednesday of January (21 January in 2026) The documented recurrence rule is: Third Wednesday in January.
Does Museum Selfie Day fall on the same date every year?
It follows a recurring calendar rule, so the Gregorian date can change from year to year.
Is Museum Selfie Day an official public holiday?
The reviewed sources verify it within this scope: International / museum-participation campaign created by Mar Dixon. That recognition does not by itself make it a statutory public holiday; the site only makes public-holiday claims when reliable evidence explicitly does so.
Who established or recognizes Museum Selfie Day?
The reviewed sources identify Mar Dixon / CultureThemes as the proclaiming or establishing body. The proposer or originator is recorded separately as Mar Dixon.
Is Museum Selfie Day international or country-specific?
The documented scope is international or global: International / museum-participation campaign created by Mar Dixon. That does not mean every country treats the date as a public holiday or observes it in the same way.
How is this page verified?
The factual information is checked against reviewed sources, including the date pattern, scope and institutional history. This page was checked on 2026-09-09.
When is Museum Selfie Day?
It is observed on the third Wednesday in January. In 2026, that date was January 21.
Who created Museum Selfie Day?
Contemporary 2014 coverage identifies museum advocate Mar Dixon and the CultureThemes project as the originators of Museum Selfie Day.
When was the first Museum Selfie Day?
The first Museum Selfie Day took place on January 22, 2014.
Why was Museum Selfie Day created?
The campaign was designed to encourage people to engage with museums and collections in a more participatory, social way and to share that engagement online.
Can you take selfies in every museum?
No. Photography and selfie policies vary by museum, gallery, exhibition and object. Visitors should follow the rules of the institution they are visiting.
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