The Cost of Free Admission: A Comparative Study Examining the Feasibility of Eliminating Museum Admission Charges THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Sarah Cortell Graduate Program in Arts Policy and Administration The Ohio State University 2011 Master's Examination Committee: Margaret J. Wyszomirski, Advisor Wayne P. Lawson Copyright by Sarah Cortell 2011 Abstract In the past two decades, several museums have eliminated their admission charges in an attempt to be more accessible to their communities. This research seeks to identify the factors influencing organizational policy and understand the strategic changes American art museums have made to eliminate their admission charges.
Through a comparative case study, four museums—the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, San Jose Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Walters Art Museum—will be examined to understand why and how these museums were able to eliminate their admission charges, and whether it is feasible for other art museums to follow their lead. A genealogy of admission charges in the United States, which outlines the factors leading to the implementation and expansion of charges, will serve as the analytical framework. ii Acknowledgments I thank my advisor, Dr. Wyszomirski, for her endless knowledge, wisdom, guidance and humor.
She is an extraordinary educator and mentor. I also thank Dr. Lawson for his feedback and wit. The staff at the Wexner Center for the Arts, especially Nico Franano, has been supportive of my graduate studies and my growth as an arts professional.
I would like to thank the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the San Jose Museum of Art for their cooperation in the research. They provided me with valuable documents and insight. My research would not have been possible with the museums‘ assistance. Finally, I am indebted to my family and friends for their unwavering support.
I want to acknowledge my mother, Judy, who encouraged my academic pursuits, and my partner, Ryan, who been my rock throughout this process. Art History, Boston University 2009. Intern, Smithsonian Institution 2009-2010. Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Art Education, The Ohio State University 2009-2010.
Membership Assistant, Wexner Center for the Arts 2010. Intern, National Gallery of Art 2010-present. Graduate Administrative Associate, Wexner Center for the Arts Fields of Study Major Field: Arts Policy and Administration iv Table of Contents Abstract .iv Table of Contents. v List of Figures .ix Chapter 1: Introduction.
1 Statement of Purpose. 3 Significance to the Field. 4 Scope and Limitations of the Study. 6 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature.
8 Museum Financial Information. 12 Relationship with Other Funding Sources. 17 Museum Audiences and Arts Participation. 22 Public Participation in the Arts.
23 Factors Influencing Arts Participation. 27 Transforming Purpose of the Art Museum. 29 From Object-based to Visitor-focused. 31 Inclusiveness and Access.
33 Museums as Exclusionary Institutions. 35 Significance for Museums. 42 v Chapter 3: Genealogy of Admission Charges. 44 Integration into Thesis.
49 Evolving Role of the Museum. 51 Museums as Educational Institutions. 55 Professionalization of the Field. 56 Standards and Best Practices.
59 Philanthropic Influences and Impact. 66 A Solution: Admission Charges. 76 Selection of Cases. 78 Chapter 5: Case Studies.
80 Minneapolis Institute of Arts: Leadership in Action. 80 vi Historical Overview. 90 San Jose Museum of Art: The Challenging Nature of ―Free‖. 95 A Return to Charging.
99 Baltimore Museum of Art: Opening the Physical and Metaphorical Doors. 110 Walters Art Museum: Accessibility Beyond Free Admission. 122 Body of discussion. 123 Income/Expenses Balance.
123 Isomorphism within the Field. 127 Public Purpose of Museums. 130 Recommendations for Future Research. Art Museum Income Categorization.
Pricing Strategy Matrix. 138 Appendix A: Recruitment Letter. 149 Appendix B: Consent Form. 151 Appendix C: Research Instrument, Semi-Structured Interview Form.
154 viii List of Figures Figure 1. Art Museum Income Categorization Figure 2. Pricing Strategy Matrix ix Chapter 1: Introduction As early as the 1900s, writings about museums reveal an ongoing dilemma—whether to charge admissions. Some scholars advocated for the museum to become like a public library—open and free of charge.
Others suggested that users must be of certain status to enter or enjoy the museum. This philosophical debate, which stretched across the globe and continues today, is deeply connected to the museum‘s public value. Beginning in the 1960s, there was an internal and external push for museums to become more educational and accessible to a wider audience. However, as discussed in this thesis, accessibility can be achieved on a number of levels.
One way is through representation in the museum‘s collections and programming. Alternatively, accessibility can be the ability to access the museum‘s services and collections through its website and social media outlets, enabling people to engage with the museum without having to visit the physical location. Other accessibility concerns include the museum being compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act or using language on the wall labels that are easily understood by all visitors. Financial accessibility is another consideration of museum professionals, and the one dealt with in this thesis.
1 While museums sought ways to increase their accessibility, they were met with rising costs and decreased giving beginning in the 1970s. Museums were compelled to seek other sources of revenue. A genealogy of admission charges in American art museums examines various factors, such as the evolving mission of the museum, professionalization of the field, and giving trends, which led to the implementation and expansion of admission charges in the 1970s and 1980s. In the past two decades, several museums have eliminated their admission charges, including the Cincinnati Museum of Art, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Knoxville Museum of Art, U.
Constitution Museum, St. Louis Art Museum, Dayton Art Institute, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum. The main reason for this policy change is to increase accessibility, and by eliminating the admission charge, the museum seeks to remove one barrier. Two questions remain—does the policy in fact increase accessibility and is the policy feasible? Statement of Purpose The goal of this research is to determine the feasibility of eliminating admission charges in American art museums.
With the recent phenomenon of museums making the change, this research seeks to identify the factors influencing organizational policy and understand the strategic changes American art museums have made to eliminate their admission charges. Through the 2 comparative case studies, four museums—the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, San Jose Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Walters Art Museum—will be studied to understand why and how these museums were able to eliminate their admission charges, and whether it is feasible for other art museums to follow their lead. However, in order to determine whether this change is feasible for other museums, the research seeks to understand the factors leading to the implementation and expansion of admission charges in the United States. This genealogy, which integrates literature from various fields, including museum studies and philanthropy, will provide the foundation to discern the role admission charges play in museums today.
Research Questions This research explores the question: Is it feasible to eliminate admission charges in American art museums? In order to answer this question, there are several embedded questions that first need to be addressed: When and why did admission charges become the museum norm? What are the philosophical and economics arguments for charging admission to art museums? What are the arguments against charging admission? What are the demographics for the current museum audience? How does charging admission impact the demographics? For museums that have eliminated admission charges, how did they replace the revenue? What impact did it have on their attendance and programming? How is the issue of accessibility connected to the museum‘s public service mission? How can free admission be sustainable? 3 Through this research, I will look at several aspects in relation to the policy, including the impact on the museums‘ financial health, funding mechanisms, audience demographics and participation. It is first important to understand the initial purpose of admission charges and through the case studies, to determine if the charges serve a new purpose. My goal is to compile and understand the complex, multidimensional impact of this policy change and the feasibility of others eliminating their charges. Significance to the Field This research seeks to build on available literature by being a valuable resource, adding to and synthesizing existing knowledge.
The genealogy of admission charges presented in Chapter 3 is a significant piece of research as it compiles and integrates literature from various fields and time periods to trace the lineage of admission charges in American art museums. Additionally, the research can be a tool for current museum professionals. This multidimensional study of the feasibility of eliminating admission charges will assist museum professionals interested in the possibilities and impacts of this specific policy change. By highlighting the various implications, the research can serve as a discussion piece for museum leadership as they examine their current admission policy.
The factors presented are for the benefit of art administrators to engage in further research, dialogue, strategic planning, and evaluation of their 4 organizational policies. Overall, I believe this research will be important to the field as museum professionals and policy makers strive to balance mission with money as they set national and organizational policy. Scope and Limitations of the Study This research offers a comprehensive look at four art museums of varying collections, budgets, and geography that underwent the policy change. I used the definition of museums the federal government employs in the Museum and Library Services Act to define my potential case studies: A public or private nonprofit agency or institution organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes, which, utilizing a professional staff, owns or utilizes tangible objects, cares for them, and exhibits them to the public on a regular basis.
This definition restricted my sample to nonprofit and public museums with permanent collections. In the interest of comparing like institutions, I excluded public museums, like those of the Smithsonian. As the funding streams of these public museums is radically different than most nonprofit museums, it was best to exclude them. Similarly, I did not choose museums that are subsets of larger institutions, such as a university museum.
Finally, in line with my personal and professional interests, I focused on art museums. The main goal in the selection of the cases was to provide a great enough scope through the variety of the institutions and its reaction to the policy change to present a full picture of the decision and ultimately, the feasibility of eliminating admission charges. 5 The information presented for each case study was limited by the information obtained through public sources, organizational documents, and interviews. I tried to interview at least two people from each museum to provide different perspectives from the various departments; however, this was not possible with the Walters Art Museum where only the Director of Development was interviewed.
Additionally, some of the museums have had significant staff turnover since the policy change took place. In these situations, I relied on institutional documents, news articles, and word-of-mouth accounts of the change. Some of the museums were hesitant or selective in sharing internal documents. In attempting to illustrate a balanced and comprehensive picture of the policy and its affect, this lack of transparency posed a challenge.
Nevertheless, the research presents a candid portrait of these institutions and the decision and impact of eliminating admission charges.