Written by Carol Vogel Saturday, 13 August 2011 21:12

Museum of Modern Art and The Met  Raising Admission and Membership Fees

New York City - The Museum of Modern Art, faced with what it calls “escalating costs in virtually all aspects of operating the museum,’’ is raising its admission price to $25 for adults from $20, where it has been since 2004. The change takes effect on Sept. 1. Admission will remain free for children 16 and under; the charge for full-time students will rise to $14 from $12.

MoMA is following the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In June the Met announced that its suggested admission price would rise to $25 from $20 starting in July. Unlike the Met’s suggested fee, MoMA’s is mandatory. Membership rates for the Museum of Modern Art are rising as well, as of Nov. 1. Individuals will have to pay $85 to be a member rather than $75; a dual membership will be $140 instead of $120, and it will cost a family $175, up from $150.

“These carefully considered increases in admission prices will help ensure that the museum is able to maintain financial stability and a balanced budget,’’ a statement from the museum said.

The editor of Art Knowledge News says..." Baloney ! "

"The last thing that MoMA and The Met should do is to raise rates to their visitors and members in these tough financial times. Both of these

well funded museums are sitting on tons of forgotten assets, hidden in their store rooms and vaults. Some of these museum treasures will never be seen by their loyal patrons."

Any real business, and these museums are businesses, would think twice before raising prices of their commodities to consumers, because real enterprises

face competition, and have to fight hard to retain their clients. Most any sensible commercial enterprise would look to sell off its unused. and unneeded  assets ... before resorting to raising its prices in hard times.  But not MoMA nor The Met, they just hold out their hands for more scarce public money.

Some of these forgotten assets were gifts bearing a prohibition on re-selling. However, rest assured, that both museums have forgotten treasures that can be sold in the private markets or at public auctions...and never be missed.  Therefore both museums could well afford to cover yearly operational expenses for years to come, without sucking their patrons for higher fees.

"Seemingly MoMA and The Met are the home grown OPEC of New York City" . .  says our Editor.

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