For the first time in 25 years, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) will be charging visitors an entry fee. Starting Friday, January 31, 2025, the gallery will introduce a $20 entry fee and the cost could rise to $35 for access to its summer and winter exhibitions. Visitors under 18 and students will still enjoy free entry, while concession tickets will be priced at $16 and $28.
The MCA is a not-for-profit, independently run organisation that receives recurring funding from the state and federal governments. However, this funding accounts for only about 14 percent of operational costs. By 2025, 85% of the MCA’s total operating expenses will need to be covered through donations, admissions fees, and commercial activities.
The MCA says that the fee has been introduced “out of necessity” to safeguard the museum’s future.
“Current government operational funding is at the same level as it was in 2008, in spite of 17 years of inflation and immense cost escalation, a doubling of visitor numbers over the period, and a new wing added to the Museum in 2012. In the three years since the pandemic, the Museum has been forced to take such measures as closing one day a week,” the museum said in a media release, adding that the entry free will is essential for the museum’s sustainability and ensuring it remains a world-class contemporary art museum in the years to come.
As the country’s only public museum dedicated to contemporary art, the MCA attracts nearly a million visitors annually. Will the new entry fee stop you from visiting the MCA or will you continue to support the museum?
You can read their statement in full here.