Many museums continue to have mandatory admission fees but also schedule
"free days," generally one evening per week and one day or weekend per
month, when anybody can come in without paying.  This seems to me to be the
ideal blend of making money from admissions as well as being accessible
without pressure to those who can't afford (or object to paying) the regular
admission fee.  The only drawback is that people wishing to take advantage
of this have to plan their attendance around the free days--which, come to
think of it, in itself may make the visit more "special."

Then again, I love the idea of "just popping in" to check up on my favorite
pieces in a museum.  When I lived in DC I would do that at the National
Gallery all the time--and felt horribly pressured to pay the "suggested" $5
at the Metropolitan when I was a grad student in art history just across the
street.

None of this answers your question directly. Sorry.

Julia Moore
Indianapolis Art Center
(we are free, but have an unattended, no-pressure donation box at the
entrance)


>From: Elana Hornstein <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Eliminating admissions fees
>Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 16:30:26 -0700
>
>I am new to the Museum-L listserve, so please forgive me if this issue was
>discussed previously:
>
>Our Museum is considering eliminating our admissions fees. Currently, we
>charge $7.00 for general admission and $4.00 for discounted admissions.
>Some
>argue that this could be a barrier for some visitors and may be limiting
>our
>potential visiting audience.  I am currently conducting an evaluation to
>determine if this is the case.  As part of my evaluation, I would like to
>look at a few case studies of other museums that previously charged an
>admissions fee, and then either reduced it or eliminated it completely.
>Can
>anyone refer me to Museums that have done this?
>
>Your help is greatly appreciated.
>
>-----------------------------
>Elana K. Hornstein
>Visitor Services Manager
>Education Department
>San Jose Museum of Art
>[log in to unmask]
>(408) 521- 4001
>
>=========================================================
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to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
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Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).