By Jihu Choi Class of 2025

Democratization of American Art Museums: The Changing Admission Policies of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

“In every society and throughout history, excellence costs money,” said the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (hereinafter “the Met”) Daniel Weiss after announcing that the Met will require an admission fee in 2018.1 The Met is one of 33,000 American museums that require admission fees in order to display “excellence.” Yet the history of access to the world’s greatest museums reflects a far more complicated story than Weiss’ statement would suggest. This paper explores the history of public access to American art museums, focusing on the Met as a case study.

When American entrepreneurs founded the Met in 1870 “to educate the American public,” the Museum offered free admission. In 1970, it introduced a pay-what-you-wish policy. However, since 2018 it has required an admission fee for out-of-state visitors. This essay examines how these policy changes influenced the Museum’s audience and public access to art. The long-standing debate about whether art museums should be free is multifaceted, especially for the Met. The Met changed its admission policy significantly over centuries and made art more accessible to some, but less so to others. Ultimately, admission fees at institutions such as the Met are contrary to core civic values of modern society, and thus museums should strive to abolish fees to make art more accessible for students, researchers, and economically disadvantaged visitors.

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