Giving It Away
access to arts institutions is critical issue
Posted by: Lisa Radon on Sep 22, 2009 at 01:00PM
3 Comments
“Arts and culture are not a luxury, they are part of this city’s DNA. It is why people want to live and work here, and seven out of 10 tourists say it is a reason for their visit.”
Does that sound familiar, Portland arts advocates? Sound like something Sam Adams might have said at a CAN meeting? Actually, it’s London’s mayor Boris Johnson.
It’s in context of a BBC story on Johnson recommending that in a recession London’s free arts institutions begin to be more aggressive about collecting donations. The story points to New York’s Metropolitan Museum, also technically free, but where the suggested donation of $20 for an adult is actively pursued as if it were an admission fee.
According to the story, Johnson frets that “free admission was leading some ‘cynical young people’ who visit the museums to conclude that what ’they’re seeing isn’t prized.’ He said charging might make them appreciate the exhibits more.”
I love that. First of all, how could they learn to “prize” it at all if they were barred by price from seeing it in the first place? And secondly, name an American arts institution that wouldn’t like to get more young people through its doors, even the cynical among them. Does anyone besides Johnson have to be reminded that those young people are future arts supporters and advocates, are future patrons?
I’ll never stop being grateful to Gordon D. Sondland and Katherine J. Durant for a major gift last year to the Portland Art Museum that made admission free for young people in Portland. The museum continues to work toward a goal of an endowment that will ensure regular “opportunities to visit without charge.” And we can all breath a sigh of relief that it looks like the Museum of Contemporary Craft’s commitment to free admission will remain intact (given its new PNCA partnership). Equity of access to culture is critical to growing support for institutions in all quarters.
I do agree with Johnson on the notion that, “arts and culture are not a luxury.” But that means that access for all should be something we’re all working toward.
Big thanks to Lisa Hoang for the heads up on the BBC story that got me thinking.
I love the Met and when I lived in Brooklyn and visited at least once a month, I only paid a dollar. The cashiers sometimes gave a scowl but that was the only pressure. As a resident of New York, it felt like a right (and a privilege) to have access to those artifacts. Let the tourists pay the $20 admission! :::::::::::
It was such an invaluable experience to visit without feeling that I had to take in everything. Free admission allowed that to happen. Some days I would just go to look at Sumerian clay tablets.::::: I would argue that one can “prize” an object much more being able to spend time with it, to soak in its unique flavors. Standing in front of the Met’s Vermeer, time can slow and the crowds fade.:::::::::::
It’s just an entirely different thing from the harried run through the halls of Modernism and then nursing “museum feet” over a $3 cup of coffee!
As a young person without too much in the way of disposable income (unpaid intern) being able to go to great museums such as the Met in New York and the countless museums in London gave me an appreciation for art I frankly never would have had otherwise. Art should be for everybody. However, if you’re making serious money and not paying the recommended entrance fee, you’re a bit of an a-hole.::::::::::Short guide to Metiquette: unpaid intern – you pay a dollar::make over $100k – drop the twenty, cheapskate.
Seth, that casual relationship, the ability to go in, see a single object or gallery, and not feel obligated to get your money’s worth on admission is so important. It absolutely changes the way we related to works. My museum membership affords me that privilege, but I want everyone to have that same opportunity. ::::: And in Portland, if you go back to the reasons the Museum was founded…with its initial collection of plaster casts of statuary (still to be found around the Mark Building)…it was as a cultural/educational resource for the community. Best we not forget that. ::::::And good point, Runyon. When you get hired, you’re gonna pay.