FrEE MoMA

Perhaps they never really caught the Unibomber. I think this is the guy!

Seriously, $20 is not a hardship. We'll see the visitor count one year out, but I don't think this is going to limit the number of people who have access to the museum. Besides, as this guy points out, it is free on Friday nights (it used to be "pay what you will").

What's ironic is that he's got the price of the renovation wrong by almost half. It's $858 million, not $450.

I don't agree on the $20 not being a hardship for many people. It's even $12 for students and $16 for seniors. I don't consider 4 hours on one night per week enough to make up for that.

For MOMA to receive a $65 million capital grant from the city and then charge that is outrageous. I think museums charge at that level to eliminate what they consider the "wrong" kind of people.

Also, for the first 3 months people have to buy tickets through TicketMaster, which adds on another $3.75 per ticket, plus other handling if you want the tickets sooner than 2-3 weeks by regular mail. They charge an additional $1.75/ticket for you to receive an email that you print yourself!

They're trying to get New Yorkers to buy memberships, so they're making it difficult and expensive for them to be casual visitors of the museum.

I like From The Floor's take on this:

http://fromthefloor.blogspot.com/2004/09/moma-stays-on-message-takes-on-city.html

I agree with some of Todd's points about how MoMA arrived at the $20 price. Clearly, that's a smokescreen. After plunging nearly $1 billion into the new building I find it hard to believe they would leave such a decision upto a roundtable bull-session. I can only assume that they did some serious market research to determine what the expected take would be at different spending levels. There's likely a very strong case that $20 would make little negative impact on the attendence figures.

Where did you see that using TicketMaster is required? Nothing to that effect is listed here: http://www.moma.org/visit_moma/admissions.html

In comparison to major sporting events, $20 for MoMA isn't half bad. Aside from $8 bleachers or $10 nose-bleed seats, the Kicks set you back at least $30 and the Yankees meet MoMA with $20. I suppose that's to keep out the "wrong" kind of people, too?

Full access to the American Museum of Natual History costs $29 for adults. If you buy individual attractions separately from general admission, if costs even more. I just don't see $20 as completely out of the ballpark when compared to other NYC attractions. Heck, the double decker sightseeing bus starts at $36 and goes up from there.

We can debate on a correct price all day, but the bottom line is there is just no reason MoMA should be free.

I had read in the past that TicketMaster was required, but it seems that you can buy day-of tickets now in the lobby. Initially it looked like they were going to require advance ticket purchases to keep up with the demand. I stand corrected.

By the way, I wasn't really arguing MOMA had to be free by linking to that site. I was interested that it exists. If they charge, though, given the amount of public support (and tax exemptions) they receive, I don't believe any museum should be charging $20 for regular admission.

I also have a problem with the idea that we should base what we charge for museums with what is paid for corporate sports events.

Look, just because there are plenty of wealthy tourists who are able to pay $80 to take their family of four to MoMA on a Saturday doesn't mean we should forget about the majority of Americans who can't afford that. The comparisons with sporting events are extremely wrongheaded. Not that I have anything against the Yankees, but if you believe, as I do, that spending time with art is an enriching experience, then you ought to understand that these financial barriers must be brought down. Art is intimidating enough as it is, making it unaffordable just seals the deal.

- FrEE MoMA

I dont know if its common knowledge-i didnt even know it until moma was in queens for the renovation- that cuny students get in for free. the first time i was just showing my id and expecting to pay the student price when he told me that. the next time i went back i decided to just pay the regular price since my queens college id had expired by 2 years. I could have used as i know others who old student id's all the time. i think with this price I may have to go back to using it. 20 dollars is way too high and comparing moma's ticketing prices to other grossly overpriced events or destinations is missing the point.