Wednesday, November 01, 2006

IMA to be a free museum again

The IMA has announced that starting the first of next year, they will be dropping their admission fee (charges will apply to special exhibitions). The IMA had traditionally always been a free museum until their recent expansion. Bloggers and critics have been shouting about the merits of free museums, especially since admission fees at MOMA and the Met have approached $20. Thank you Max and may your attendance numbers soar!

Late hours will also be added on Thursday and Friday.

9 Responses to “IMA to be a free museum again”

Scott said...
November 1, 2006 at 12:10 PM

I am glad to hear they will now have later hours on Fridays. It never made sense to me to close the museum before the dinner crowd had a chance to go. People typically need some time to go home and change after work before hitting the town. This in the past was alomst never possible. I too hope these recent decisions will boost attendance.


Anonymous said...
November 1, 2006 at 4:00 PM

This is awesome. I am so impressed that they've made that decision.
BRAVO MAX ANDERSON!!!!!!!!!!!


Anonymous said...
November 2, 2006 at 1:18 PM

This IS good news! :) Something to be happy about!


Arthur said...
November 3, 2006 at 12:30 PM

Woohoo! This is great! That was the best thing about London (well, one of the best), awesome free museums. With a suggested donation, of course.


Anonymous said...
November 7, 2006 at 6:57 PM

Don't you think it's a little degrading to think most of the people who are excited about this spend the equivalent of a membership to one of our museum's in a weeks's worth of coffee......you pay for what you value.


ChristopherWestPresents said...
November 8, 2006 at 12:50 PM

Who revealed to you my coffee budget??? I am, and will continue to be a member of the IMA, and I hope everyone else will too.


Scott said...
November 8, 2006 at 2:07 PM

I dont even like coffee.

My issue with museums charging is that it prevents a number of people from going. As a cultural institution, one with a slant towards education (to some degree) people should be able to see and experience the art at no cost.

I have a membership to the museum.

There are several discussions of this type across the net, taking place in every city. So many artists and patrons have mentioned that when they were young they couldn't afford to go to the theater, or a concert, but would head over to the art museum to spend a few hours, looking at art. This capability allowed for their love of art to grow. This would not have been as possible if they had to pay everytime. Most people if asked to pay $7+ to go to a museum or to see a movie would sadly go for the movie but who can really blame then in the end, at least with a movie you have a good idea of what you are going to get from it.

It is not about who is capable of paying to go to the museum, it is about those who can't afford to pay. And yes, there is always the free Thursday, but seriously, that is not always convienent to everyones schedule.


Anonymous said...
November 8, 2006 at 8:07 PM

Verbose as usual! But you know, I'm not part of the underclass or whatever, but I like a free museum. The Museum of Science and Industry was free forever, until it wasn't and I haven't gone more than twice since they started charging, (15 years ago??) when I went like twice a week when they didn't. Museums should be a place parents and kids and poor people who still value coffee can HANG OUT, not special occasion places.


Anonymous said...
November 12, 2006 at 9:42 AM

My prediction......IMA's attendance numbers stay flat.....the socio economic demographics of their audience don't change....and they have less revenue to put on great shows and conserve art.


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