Mar 11, 2009 12:34 pm US/Central
Art Institute Soon To Cost A Lot More
Admission To Go Up To $18
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Like Edvard Munch's famous painting on display at the
Art Institute of Chicago right now, the museum's approved new admission fees might make you want to scream.
At its meeting on Wednesday, the Chicago Park District Board unanimously approved a 50 percent increase in the admission price — from $12 to $18. Under the plan, students and seniors will see prices rise from $7 to $12, a 71 percent increase.
May 23 will be the first day of the new price change, according to Art Institute spokeswoman Erin Hogan.
The admission hike has been under consideration for two years, Hogan said. Rates have not risen in five years.
But some Chicagoans weren't happy about it.
"This will be ripping off students at a really difficult time,'' Mike Skrobin, an art student at Moraine Valley Community College, told the Sun-Times as he left the museum Tuesday. "They should make it free.''
Less than three years ago, it was free to enter the Art Institute, although the museum did ask visitors make a "suggested'' donation.
The hike will go into effect after the museum's new Modern Wing opens in May. The $280 million, 264,000-square-foot addition designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano will increase exhibition space by 30 percent, making it the second-largest art museum in the U.S.
But Hogan said the purpose of the admission hike was not to fund construction of the new wing, for which expenses are already paid off.
"The Art Institute is a world-class museum with rising expenses like any other entity,'' said Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner. "With the number of free days that they have, it still remains accessible to the citizens of Chicago.'' One-fifth of the museum's nearly 1.4 million visitors last year came during free hours, which include Thursday nights year-round, Friday nights during the summer and every day during the month of February.
However, city residents who come during the bulk of the museum's operating hours pay the same as suburbanites or tourists — unlike at other city museums.
That frustrates Joe Marnen of Lincoln Park, who said, "I wouldn't pay nearly $20 to see this. I think it would make people not want to come here as much.''
Friends of the Parks president Erma Tranter said she didn't know why the institute was raising rates, but noted, "These institutions have significant challenges right now.''
Still, she said she would like to see special rates for families and more free passes available from city libraries because such passes currently are very difficult to get.
In addition to its location on park land in the heart of Grant Park, the Art Institute received $6.6 million from the Park District last year.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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