In order to allay a serious budget deficit in the 1970s, the museum received permission from the city to post signs that read “Pay as you wish, but you must pay something”. Since then, the Met’s been granted the ability to charge suggested admission to cover costs, but that ticket price doesn’t come close to the $25 amount that’s now “recommended”.
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This outcome is the endpoint of a 2013 lawsuit that alleged that signs at the museum misled guests. This Metropolitan Museum admission pricing policy was the subject of a just settled class action lawsuit that illustrates that fine line between providing affordable access to the art and the reality of making ends meet.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY has agreed to reword its signs and website to settle years-long litigation that claimed it deceived patrons into believing its recommended $25 admission fee was mandatory. However, that doesn’t preclude anyone from making donations-the museum’s admissions policy is referred to as “pay what you wish”.
The modification is actually a reversion to the Met’s prior admission policy that used the “suggestion” terminology.
The museum said in a statement the changes would go into effect next month to coincide with its opening of The Met Breuer, a new location on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Met CEO Thomas P. Campbell says the museum seeks to emphasize that it is “accessible to the widest possible audience”.
The Met, which recently unveiled a new logo, plans to keep the design of its admission sign essentially the same, the museum’s vice president of communications Elyse Topalian tells Quartz.
Critics have argued, however, that the “recommended” $25 price is misleading, and they’ve been sued several times over the wording of their admissions signs.
Signs will also make it clear how much visitors pay is up to them. The world-renowned museum said although the settlement still requires…
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He continued, “At no other museum can so many extraordinary shows and such an outstanding collection be visited in a single day-with a single suggested admission”. “I think it really brings the museum back to where it should have been, and where it was historically”.
