Unique Donation to the Tate Raises Important Issue Facing Museums Today
It is the rare occurrence that an individual goes to an art museum and finds themselves pondering something other than the art on display. In a unique attempt to change this, an anonymous donor has given the Tate a donation of toilet paper in an attempt to raise the public's awareness of the financial strain operating costs place on museums. As part of the agreement, visitors will notice that each bathroom stall is adorned with a sign which reads “Tate relies on benefactors / The paper in this facility has been donated by an anonymous donor.” Andrea Nixon, the Tate’s director of development, points out that “the money spent on toilet paper for over 4 million visitors a year is not insignificant.” The same donor previously financed the redesign of gallery collection boxes, making them transparent, reportedly resulting in a small increase in donations.
The extent to which operating costs factor into other decisions museum’s make is for the most part unknown to the average visitor. While many are upset about the Museum of Modern Art’s recent increase of its admission price from $12 to $20, few consider the substantial increase in general operating costs associated with the museum’s new 630,000 square-foot facility (the primary reason provided by museum officials for the admission hike; for the most part, figures to follow can be found in the article “The $20 Solution,” by Nancy Cook in the September 2004 issue of ArtNews).
This year MoMA’s operating costs are estimated at $120 million, up from $83 million in 1999 (the museum’s last year in Midtown). MoMA receives less than $14,000 annually for operating costs from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, whereas museums on city land (e.g. The Met, Brooklyn Museum, etc.) which receive significantly more (in the last fiscal year, the Metropolitan received $20.4 million for operating and energy costs). According to Ruth Kaplan, MoMA’s director of marketing and communications, the museum earned 14% of its operating income from admissions and expects that figure to rise to 17% in the new building.
No one likes when prices go up but it's something we’ve got to get used to, particularly in the non-profit sector where services are being provided either with nominal or insufficient funding at the state and federal level. That said, Glenn Lowery, the director of the Museum of Modern Art, stated that the museum anticipates that just half of the people visiting the museum will actually pay the full admission fee, with the other 50% receiving discounted admission as seniors, students or children. In a recent survey conducted by the Association of American Museum Directors, it was determined that the average visitor who walks in the door costs the museum $46.51. This figure is in stark comparison to the average admission paid by a visitor, which is $2.25. For a museum like MoMA, where most of its funding comes from the private sector, an $8 increase on general admission prices doesn’t seem totally unreasonable, particularly since the museum is fully capable of giving the visitor their money’s worth in terms of the cultural, educational and entertainment experience.
The extent to which operating costs factor into other decisions museum’s make is for the most part unknown to the average visitor. While many are upset about the Museum of Modern Art’s recent increase of its admission price from $12 to $20, few consider the substantial increase in general operating costs associated with the museum’s new 630,000 square-foot facility (the primary reason provided by museum officials for the admission hike; for the most part, figures to follow can be found in the article “The $20 Solution,” by Nancy Cook in the September 2004 issue of ArtNews).
This year MoMA’s operating costs are estimated at $120 million, up from $83 million in 1999 (the museum’s last year in Midtown). MoMA receives less than $14,000 annually for operating costs from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, whereas museums on city land (e.g. The Met, Brooklyn Museum, etc.) which receive significantly more (in the last fiscal year, the Metropolitan received $20.4 million for operating and energy costs). According to Ruth Kaplan, MoMA’s director of marketing and communications, the museum earned 14% of its operating income from admissions and expects that figure to rise to 17% in the new building.
No one likes when prices go up but it's something we’ve got to get used to, particularly in the non-profit sector where services are being provided either with nominal or insufficient funding at the state and federal level. That said, Glenn Lowery, the director of the Museum of Modern Art, stated that the museum anticipates that just half of the people visiting the museum will actually pay the full admission fee, with the other 50% receiving discounted admission as seniors, students or children. In a recent survey conducted by the Association of American Museum Directors, it was determined that the average visitor who walks in the door costs the museum $46.51. This figure is in stark comparison to the average admission paid by a visitor, which is $2.25. For a museum like MoMA, where most of its funding comes from the private sector, an $8 increase on general admission prices doesn’t seem totally unreasonable, particularly since the museum is fully capable of giving the visitor their money’s worth in terms of the cultural, educational and entertainment experience.
posted by Corey Wyckoff at 2:27 PM
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