# MOMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York) admission increase to $20 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651 "2004-10-05T15:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/41 "2004-10-06T16:11:27Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > In the last year I have been to the British Museum… I was absolutely floored when I first visited that museum. It puts anything we have in the US to shame. Ahhh, the privileges of Empire! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/42 "2004-10-06T16:16:52Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I was absolutely floored when I first visited that museum. It puts anything we have in the US to shame. Ahhh, the privileges of Empire! 🙂 Who said crime doesn’t pay? ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/43 "2004-10-06T16:20:20Z")
(line I SHOULDA used…) > [@John Mace](#): > > I was absolutely floored when I first visited that museum. It puts anything we have in the US to shame. Ahhh, the privileges of Empire! 🙂 Was that privileges or pillages? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/44 "2004-10-06T17:08:33Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > To Those Who Feel We’re Whining > > You don’t get it. Normally, I would not say something that insulting and condescending. But, you really don’t get it. There were centuries when great art was available only to those rich enough to afford it. Timeless masterpieces were hidden away where almost no one could see them. The purpose of a museum is to display these works to everyone and anyone- anyone can come inside and witness humanity’s greatest achievements, they can be uplifted, inspired and ennobled. > > If a museum becomes too costly to visit, it loses its reason for being. But that’s COMMUNISM!!! **DocCathode** , you bloody pinko, why do you hate America? :rolleyes: **JayElle** -are you allowed to bring your own chair in? (Yeah I know, but a chair like that is an accident waiting to happen. A serious one-can we say workman’s comp? If they truly can’t afford it, though, remind them that if you get hurt, the expense will be much greater). ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/45 "2004-10-06T17:48:05Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I was absolutely floored when I first visited that museum. It puts anything we have in the US to shame. Ahhh, the privileges of Empire! 🙂 It is probably my favourite as well. I love the Tate for its Turners. The National Portrait Gallery is fantastic but might be a bit anglo-centric in taste for visitors. The National Gallery is fantastic with van Goghs and Picassos and my personal [favourite](http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng6574). The US has a pretty impressive set of museums as well. I personally have fond memories of the San Francisco MOMA, having got laid after meeting some one there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/46 "2004-10-06T18:32:04Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Pfshaw. Come visit DC - land of the free museum. Except the [International Spy Museum](http://www.spymuseum.org/index.asp), which charges $13 adult admission (the discount for Seniors, Active Duty Military, Intel Community, & College Students is only $1 :dubious: ) and $5 to get into the Permanet Exhibition, which is always very cool-sounding and what they promote the most on the radio (without mentioning that it costs extra). A good friend from Pittsburgh visited me this past weekend, and we decided to spend Sunday in D.C.: after finding out how expensive the Spy Museum is, we opted to head downtown early and check out the new [National Museum of the American Indian](http://www.nmai.si.edu/) (which, thank og, is a Smithsonian museum and therefore entry is free…and _very_ worthwhile, btw!). We saw the new WWII Memorial, as well, and had a lovely walk on the mall. (We wound up spending as much on lunch as we would have on admission to the Spy Museum, but that’s another rant altogether… 😃 ) I didn’t know until this weekend that the Spy Museum charges admission…I was surprised, and a little disappointed. ☹ I still really want to go sometime, though, because it sounds really cool. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/47 "2004-10-06T18:42:49Z")
Further to what **InvidiousCourgette** said, since 2001 _all_ of Britain’s national museums and art galleries are free. Like many people, I would never bother going to any museum if I had to pay a material entrance fee. I imagine the positive impact on tourism goes a long way to offset the cost. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/48 "2004-10-06T20:28:46Z")
Does at least charging a nominal fee help people respect the art better, though? I visited both Tates and the British Museum back in 2002, and the condition of the latter especially appalled me - made me wonder what might happen with the Tate Modern once it’s been around a few years. It seemed that people didn’t respect the building or its contents very well - I saw a lot of people (and I mean people old enough to know better) touching ancient artifacts. Of course, I’ve seen schoolchildren behave better at the equally free Smithsonian, so maybe there’s some other reason. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/49 "2004-10-06T20:34:06Z")
> [@lurkernomore](#): > > Was that privileges or pillages? The latter comes with the former. Nothing like having a good chunk of the Parthenon in your national museum…! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/50 "2004-10-06T20:36:02Z")
All of Britain’s national museums are free… and the Saatchi Gallery charges 9 pounds. So what? America’s national museums (AKA The Smithsonian) are also free. they just happen to be located in our national capitol, Washington DC. BTW, the Spy Museum is well worth $12 in my view. At first I did think it a little steep but when I thought about the cost of movies these days, I realized I was being unreasonable and when I saw the items they had collected within, I knew they must have cost a pretty penny. SM is a private, money-making venture after all. Also, side note, I was recently in the Ashmolean museum with my brother, and every time we’d enter a new room, we just had to say: mmm… plunder. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/51 "2004-10-06T21:01:54Z")
> [@me](#): > > Was that privileges or pillages? > [@John Mace](#): > > The latter comes with the former. Nothing like having a good chunk of the Parthenon in your national museum…! \ It’s good to be the king’s man! \ ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651/52 "2004-10-06T22:28:36Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > $20 seems pretty cheap to get into one of the best art museums around. Movies are about $10. Skip 2 and you’re set. Most of them are junk anyway. How much does it cost to go to a ball game these days? A lot more than 20 bucks. > > Why do so many people think that something should be cheap just because they want it? I think it’s well worth it to pay $10 or $20 to visit a world class museum. I think the reason people object to admission charges is that most museums used to be free. Anyone over 40 remembers this. People don’t object to paying $10 to go to a movie, because they know that lots of other things that used to cost $1 when they were children, now cost at least $10, and movies are another example of that. But maybe they don’t see museums in the same light, since they used to be free. I’m glad I saw this thread. I was wondering what to do with myself tonight while my wife goes to her business association dinner and meeting; seems like a good evening to visit the Getty Center. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moma-museum-of-modern-art-new-york-admission-increase-to-20/267651.md?page=2)