Major museums and galleries to raise their ticket prices in 2024
By Katriona Hannah
The recent news that the Louvre will raise its admission price in 2024, took me on a deep dive into museum ticket price hikes and inspired me to take a closer look at museum and art gallery admission pricing worldwide. What I found, raises concerns about the accessibility of art and questions the relations and trust between art institutions and the public.
The Louvre, Paris, at night. Image: group.schindler.com
The Louvre has just announced that their ticket price will rise from €17 to €22 in January of 2024. At the same time, the admission prices for Berlin’s state museums will increase by €2, now being priced between €12 and €14 euros. A similar price spike has already been seen across the art world, with major European and American museums raising their admission prices for the first time in several years. In New York, The Guggenheim and MOMA are now priced at a staggering $30. The Whitney Museum of American Art student ticket (usually one of the cheapest options) is now $25. The situation is similar in other American states, with The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago increasing their admissions price to $30 and $32 respectively.
The spokespeople for some of those institutions blame tight budgets, rising costs, and a need to increase income to fund free entries for children and journalists. However, without an open dialogue with the public regarding the rising ticket prices, new ideas on providing accessible options, and a detailed justification of certain spending habits, visitors’ trust in these institutions will diminish. When considering recent cases of questionable spending on behalf of art institutions (such as The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum who spent almost $6 million on a hat that most scholars believe never even belonged to Lincoln) the rise in admission prices becomes even more questionable. Similarly, when ticket prices rise, yet, the majority of art interns and workers do not receive a living wage, the justifications for those raises are hardly convincing.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Image: metmuseum.org
With ticket prices slowly climbing and becoming unaffordable for most, the accessibility of art can decrease, making it more elitist. Cases like New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art offering a “pay what you can” scheme for those who can confirm their New York residency goes some way to combatting this. However, it does mean that people without legal documentation, those from already marginalised communities, or visitors from other states will still have to pay the full price of $30. This scheme would also make people from foreign countries whose national cultural objects were stolen as a result of colonialism pay the full ticket price to see their heritage on display.
There are options for visiting museums for free or at a fraction of the full price, such as ICOM cards (available only to those in the art profession), children’s fees, or free visit days held by several institutions. Some banks also provide free museum visits for their customers. However, all of the options mentioned above will not be convenient to everyone, and most people are unlikely to go out of their way for a visit to a museum.
This move raises concerns about the accessibility of art in the future as many people might have to choose between spending money on a necessity or a ticket to an art institution. When attending public art galleries and museums at an affordable price becomes this complicated or for many even impossible, it raises questions about the future of art and its place in our society. On top of the evident inflation and economic recession, the rising admission costs reduce the probability of those struggling financially engaging with art, put the spendings of art institutions into question, and contribute to gradually making art more and more elitist.
Bibliography
Hickley, Catherine. “Berlin’s state museums raise ticket prices as costs climb”. The Art Newspaper. 14.12.2023. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/14/berlins-state-museums-raise-ticket-prices-as-costs-climb
O’Hara, Katie. “VIEWPOINT: Museum Accessibility: Balancing Public Interest and Financial Reality”. The Hoya. 28.09.2023. https://thehoya.com/viewpoint-museum-accessibility-balancing-public-interest-financial-reality/
Solomon, Tessa. "Louvre To Hike Admission Price Ahead of 2024 Summer Olympics”. ARTnews. 11.12.2023. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/louvre-to-hike-admission-price-ahead-of-2024-summer-olympics-1234689342/
Waburek, Ronny. “Inflation Hits Culture NYC Museums Increase Admission Fees”. Arteneos. 03.08.2023. https://arteneos.com/museums/525-inflation-hits-culture-nyc-museums-increase-admission-fees