Visitors to local museums on the first Thursday in August can explore everything from the zany world of Jim Henson’s Muppets to artist Andrew Wyeth’s intensely human Helga portraits — for free.

Seattle’s First Thursday program opens exhibits at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP/SFM), and other museums to the public at no cost to visitors, and this month’s First Thursday offers an eclectic collection of work.

Entering the Muppet exhibit at the EMP/SFM is akin to embarking on a ride at Disneyland. Gleeful singing conjures up magical feelings, and visitors are greeted with fantastical creatures as Kermit the Frog holds fort in his glass case.

“The exhibit explores Jim Henson’s remarkable talent as a storyteller and visionary,” said Jason Emmons, director of curatorial affairs at the EMP/SFM.

Henson’s work is celebrated in rich detail, from his doodles of Bert and Ernie plastered on the walls to material from his brief stint advertising for Wilkins Coffee, from which his brainchildren Rowlf the Dog and the Cookie Monster were born.

The most remarkable facet of the exhibit, however, is the Mudgarden experience, in which children and parents congregate in a small theater while kids place tiny fists in puppets and sing along to such memorable tunes as “Mahna Mahna.”

A far cry from the general wackiness that reigns in the Mudgarden, the Andrew Wyeth exhibit at the SAM features earnest, sensual themes. Simplicity is key in this homage to the eminent American artist. The exhibit, Remembrance, is comprised of only seven works, but they are seven of Wyeth’s greatest, demonstrating considerable technical skill as well as emotional depth.

“It’s a small show with a big impact,” said curator Patricia Junker. “He attracted a huge audience of people who would have closed their eyes to art otherwise.”

With a keen eye for sensuous detail and sumptuous texture, Wyeth’s appeal lies in his ability to inspire fascination, and visitors often linger in the gallery to absorb the full impact of his work.

“I think there are things we can all identify with in his work,” Junker said. “The magic for [Wyeth] was you could create something out of these materials [watercolors, tempera paint or ink] and elicit an emotional reaction.”

Target Practice, the SAM’s other featured exhibit, creates an impact of a different nature. A collection of violent, forceful pieces from the postwar era (1949-1978), Target Practice aims to shock, perplex and jar the onlooker. In this unique, staggering collection of pieces, the theme of destruction is made visible. Newspaper, plywood, canvas and linen are all violently ruptured.

The most astonishing thing about the exhibit is not the wide array of artists and media involved, but that the inclination to express the violence of war in some artistic medium is so pervasive. The exhibit as a whole demonstrates a powerful sense of cohesion despite its varied subject matter.

As if the prospect of seeing such a dynamic set of artwork isn’t enticing enough, the exhibit features such luminaries as Jasper Johns, Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol.

One interactive piece, inspired by Yoko Ono, encourages guests to nail artifacts to the wall to form a collage of memorabilia that, while somewhat violent by nature, is ultimately beautiful and creative.

Other art galleries involved in the First Thursdays program include the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Capitol Hill and the Wing Luke Asian Museum in the International District.

Reach reporter Sara Grimes at arts@dailyuw.com.