Museums: July 2006 Archives
The art blogosphere is agog over the Met's announcement last week that it would rise to the challenge of MoMA's $20 admission price (albeit, the Met's is only "suggested") for most expensive museum in town. Faux-rage was thrown all around about how this would exclude the young and the poor and negatively impact the enjoyment and development of art. The argument goes that if a kid doesn't get access to MoMA or the Met when he/she is an impressionable youth, they will never be moved to make great works in thefuture. While the impact of viewing art at an early age appears to be the only indicator of actively art appreciation as an adult, so to some extent this is a true criticism, I suspect attendance will not drop for the want of a fiver. Museums hold near monoplies over their collections and as such as highly insensitive to price changes. Look at the line outside of MoMA and you'll see the tend for the Met.
Plus, this pricing isn't out of line with other NYC venues. Anything better than the bleachers at Yankee Stadium will set you back at least $19, not including peanuts and Cracker Jacks. For comparison, here are some other museum admission prices:
Guggenheim
Admission and complimentary audio tour
Adults $18
Students and Seniors (65 years +) with valid ID $15
Children under 12 Free
Frick
Admission and complimentary audio tour
$15, adults
$10, senior citizens (62 and over)
$5, students with valid identification.
On Sundays, pay what you wish from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Morgan Library
$12 Adults
$8 Children (under 16)
$8 Seniors (65 and over)
$8 Students (with current ID)
Free to members and children 12 and under (must be accompanied by an adult)
Admission is free on Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Museo del Barrio
Admission fees:
Suggested admission: Adults: $6.00
Students & Seniors: $4.00
Members & Children Under 12: FREE
Museum of City of New York
Suggested Admission
Adults; $9
Seniors, students; $5
Families; $20 (max. 2 adults)
Children 12 and under; free
Brooklyn Museum
Suggested contribution of $8 for adults
$4 for Seniors and Students with valid I.D.
Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are admitted for free.
Free admission on Sundays between 10 am and 12 pm.
Elsewhere:
I wasn't much interested in seeing the Atta Kim show at ICP (or the concurrent show at Yossi Milo) until I read today's review in the NY Times.
Every day, hundreds of tourists snap photographs of a crowd- and car-jammed Times Square. The average picture takes — what? — 15 seconds to shoot? The same picture of the same place takes the Korean photographer Atta Kim eight hours. And his Times Square ends up with only an eerie trace of a human presence, like a deserted movie set.
Holland Cotter's above description applies to only one of Kim's projects. His variety of approaches is uncommon for a photographer working at his level. Once a photographer is identified with a particular style of approach, it's difficult to break out into another style. Consider the reaction Bob Dylan got when he went electric.
