Baltimore Museums Go Free
Forward Thinking Baltimore Museum of Art and Walters Art Gallery
The City of Baltimore agreed to subsidize the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Gallery so that admission is free. What better way to offer art to the masses?
I grew up in Baltimore and worked at the Baltimore Museum of Art back in the late 80's. As an art student at the nearby Maryland Institute College of Art I spent countless hours in the Walters Art Gallery walking it's musty cement corridors soaking up the climate-controlled goodness made magical by it's eclectic collection of art and historical objects.
As a full-time art student I got in free to most museums. There were many days when me and the guards were the only people in the museums with the exception of the usual Thursday free day when the admission price was waived and the museum would fill up with visitors.
Now the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County is subsidizing the entry fee so that all museum visitors and Baltimorians can visit for free beginning October 1, 2006. Baltimore City and Baltimore County are also asking other neighboring counties to share the financial burden.
"I believe the arts are a critical component to our quality of life," said Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens. "The ability to expose all citizens to great art will enormously enhance our region."
The cooperation and vision of these various governments is to be applauded. The current entrance fee for the museums is $10, so for many people in Baltimore who make the minimum wage of $5.15/hour they need to work two hours just to afford to visit an art museum. It is also interesting to compare this admission fee to the newly re-opened Museum of Modern Art in New York City which has a $20 entrance fee. All national museums in Washington D.C. are subsidized by federal tax dollars and therefore free to all.
By making art museums available to all it educates and enriches everyone. It is money well spent.
