Hi Jason.

I have had a similar experience at 2 different museums. Although I really
cherish the following museums, I have been frustrated with their pricing
rules. The Bower's Museum, in Southern California, frequently has a special
exhibit for which you pay $20 + in addition to the regular admission price.

At the British Museum in London, admission is free, although a donation is
encouraged, but you must pay more money to see special exhibits.

I don't always have the extra money to shell out to see the special exhibits
and I find it quite discouraging when museums use this method.

However, there are also other wonderful museums that don't charge for
special exhibits, such as the Portland Art Museum, in Oregon. I think they
are quite successful in their practices.

Fiona Adams

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Aikens, Jason
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 9:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Admission fees for special exhibits


To All:

Recently I visited a non-profit museum which was currently having a special
exhibit.  I would not like to mention the specific name of the museum or the
exhibit.  The museum had a regular admission price of around $8 and charged
an additional $8 to see their new special exhibit.  The museum also required
that if anyone wanted to see the special exhibit, they must also pay for
regular admission to the museum.  I was offended by the price gauging of
this institution.

I was wondering if it anyone out there had any other similar experiences
like this at another non-profit museum.  Is it common for museums to charge
additional fees to see special exhibits?  I can understand a dollar or two
but nearly $8 seems quite high and requiring visitors to pay for regular
admission as well as special exhibit fees seems a bit much don't you think?
Isn't this a violation of federal non-profit standards?

Jason Aikens

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