The Profitability of Art and the Question of Free Museums

I have fond memories of museums from throughout the years: field trips to The Tech Museum in the third grade, going with my baby cousin and family to see the penguins at the California Academy of Sciences, accompanying my grandparents and gawking at sculptures in The Legion of Honor– I could go on and on. When I walk on the shiny marble floors and trail through the decades of immersive exhibits at museums, I feel as if I’ve been transported to another dimension. So imagine my surprise recently when I checked the prices for the California Academy of Sciences and found that their lowest ticket price was $31.50 for youth, going up to $40.50 for adults. Imagine a family of five hoping to explore the wonders of this natural history museum, but having to do so at the steep price of $175 for this day trip. This, to me, is unacceptable.   

Now, to an extent, the need for admission fees can be understandable. According to Kaywin Feldman, director of the Minneapolis Institute for Art, as explained in The Observer, there is necessary revenue to balance and that “being free makes some more elaborate exhibitions more difficult to afford.” However, some museums like the Walters Art Museum who eliminated fees were able to balance out this loss of revenue through generous support from donors and endowment gifts. The facts show that universal free admission is possible. 

While such museums have made such transformative changes through eliminating fees, others have done the opposite. In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced their new policy of ending their pay-as-you-wish for out-of-state visitors– for the first time since 1970. This, understandably, created an uproar of opinions on the matter. Museum professionals, museum goers, and the public alike shared their outrage on the profitability and price tag placed on what was previously, one of the most accessible and acclaimed collections of art. 

Indeed, art should not be commodified for the sake of elitist viewership and profit for institutions. Art (and natural history, and all fields of knowledge that you can access at museums) must be accessible to all; one piece of art, one Van Gogh painting, or one Basquiat graffiti piece could completely transform someone’s way of thinking. My favorite thing about art is how limitless it is– or rather, how limitless it ought to be. Admission fees are nothing more than a gilded barrier to low-income populations, one that completely contradicts what I believe is the “purpose” of art: to reach the masses, to inspire, and to be anything and everything. How can art be anything and everything when only certain classes can access it? 

Without a doubt, the elitism, systematic racism, and colonialism of museums, particularly art museums, need to be thoughtfully uprooted and confronted. While making museums free is only one step in this direction, it is undoubtedly one that could change the lives of many for the better.