June 18, 2007
An Expensive Crystal
The Louvre. Tate Modern. SFMOMA. Guggenheim. What do these places all have in common? They're all top-notch, world-renowned museums, yes. But beyond the most obvious answer, they're also all located in some of the most notoriously expensive cities in the world and they still manage to offer better admission deals than the newly-renovated ROM.
The ROM has quietly jacked up the price of its cheap(er than the other) nights. Previously, Friday evenings from 4:30–9:30 p.m. at the ROM were $5 for adults and $2.50 for children. Now, the price has risen to $10 for adults and $5 for children. With regular admission at a whopping $20 for adults, $17 for students and seniors and $14 for children 4–14, Friday nights were likely the only time many, especially families, could afford to visit. With the price on Fridays now doubled, the ROM is being pushed even further out of the realm of affordability. This shouldn't be happening at an institution that just received tens of millions of government dollars to fund its expansion. Everyone deserves an equal access to the ROM's collections. For many of us, the $30 it would cost for a family with two adults and two children to visit the ROM on a Friday night wouldn't be a problem. But for others, it's simply out of reach.
It isn't impossible to offer cheap, or even free, museum admission. The Louvre offers free admission to, among others, students, the unemployed or those receiving social assistance and visitors with disabilities and their guests/helpers (the ROM oddly requires that people with disabilities, often on a fixed income, pay the full fee, while one attendant gets in for free). Friday nights are also free for anyone under 26.
Tate Modern's gallery is by donation at all times. At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the already reasonable admission prices are cut in half on Thursday evenings. The first Tuesday of every month is free.
The Guggenheim offers Pay What You Wish on Friday nights, an arrangement that suits any budget. Even our own National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa has free Thursday evenings.
The ROM's website proclaims that "the Crystal Age announces the Museum as the country’s premier cultural and social destination." It's an expansive claim for an institution whose rising prices will exclude many of Toronto's residents.
Photo by andreakw from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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Friday nights at the ROM used to be free too before going up to $5 a couple of years ago. Admission to the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC is free all the time.
The ROM is a joke of a museum as far as major city museums go. The only thing it ever had going for it was the planetarium way back when. This crystal is a nothing more than a tourist trap, and a poor one at that. Like the CN tower, the outside is enticing, but the inside is bland. But personal opinion aside, can anyone actually say they would pay that much to spend 5 minutes in this thing, or think that its worth it for 10/20 bucks?
Stop whining you cheap bastards. People line up days so they can BUY a friggen Nintendo Wii or PAY to see a stupid Lord of the Rings movie and they can't cough up $20 for the museum ?
Friday nights at the ROM is packed, raising the price is the right thing to do.
I believe you are wrong about the tate modern being "by donation". This may be for *some* of the galleries, possibly the permanent exhibit, but not everything. I don't remember the tate modern being cheap when I was there.
For what the ROM delivers, the prices should be much lower and a "freebie" night should be offered to those who cannot afford to pay the full price. I don't agree that the ROM's historical treasures should be accessible to only those who can afford to pay to see them when so many other world-class cities can do share theirs for much less.
This reminds me of when Astral Media threatened IllegalSigns.ca on the same day that a Globe and Mail article about Clear Channel's threats all but disqualified them from the "street furniture" competition.
That is, the ROM seems to have enjoyed the publicity from Leah Sandals's Now article and Wire post so much that they're trying to capitalize on the momentum by putting the Museum even further out of reach.
Leah's Wire post actually has an update about this in the comments.
Entrance fees in national galleries and museums in UK were scrapped a few years ago - but yes, 'special exhibitions' - big retrospectives etc always charge admission.
I have to say I was a little shocked re arts/museums on coming to Toronto from U.K. - a lot of choice, certainly, but at a premium.
I seem to recall a speech by Thorsell on television last week, about the relevance of the ROM... and he concluded it by banging on about a new restaurant and how you can buy some fancy-sounding coffee or other. Didn't sound very inclusive to me...
It would be interesting how far off the mark the ROM is, if we model admission price as inversely proportional to the combination of a museum's private endowment and operating subsidy from relevant levels of government.
Which is to say, it's obviously too expensive... but by how much, and why?
I forgot to add: it's like comparatively high TTC fares... where an organization is forced to pass along to the public (by charging admission) those costs that would (and should) otherwise have been paid by the public indirectly through taxes.
The ROM has no incentive to charge high admission out of baseless greed.
But them 905ers sure did love their 90's tax cuts, and we seem poised for a big blue revival.
I believe the correct pronunciation is now Chris-taHll.
Some years ago the entrance to ROM in the last hour was free - are you shure now it is cancelled?
With the exception of the new Crystal, the ROM and it's exhibits have barely changed in the last 20 years. Why spend $20 to see something you have already seen before? -Especially- when they have a tendency to charge extra for new, temporary exhibits.
I have ZERO desire to go back under the current pricing schemes (or the old ones for that matter). It's sad when I would rather resort to seeing another hollywood sequel with $10 popcorn than to subject myself to stale, intellectual culture for 20 bucks a pop.
Amit, I think you missed the point. Not everyone is lining up for Wiis or going to the movies. Lots of people can't afford it. If you've got, say, $150 left after paying your rent - which is a reality for some people - $30 to take your family to a museum is a lot of money.
Christopher - I wrote that the Tate's gallery is by donation - I probably should have made that part clearer. Special exhibits are extra.
Matt - like Val said, it used to be free Friday nights all night. It's still free for an hour before close, but that doesn't include any special exhibits, whereas the "cheap" Friday night price does.
When I was checking out other museum's prices, including the ones that didn't fit into the post, every single one I saw was less expensive than the ROM.
View from NYC -- everyone here was outraged when MoMA jacked prices to $20 after their recent uber-renovation, but they seem to be getting away with it. Then again, tourism is at an all-time high here (compared to sad, ignored Toronto) so gouging the tourists is somewhat acceptable. To appease the locals, MoMA has free Friday nights (sponsored by Target) and membership is $75, or less than four visits. Also, and sorry to sound pretentious, but it is one of the greatest collections of art in the world. MoMA is private, but many of the other museums in New York receive money from the city, and the rule for them is that any museum that receives public funds must use "recommended" ticketing, so that those who cannot afford to pay may still visit. Lacking free nights, cheap membership or pay-what-you-wish, the ROM is clearly screwing Torontonians all around.
(Hmmmn, just like the most-expensive-in-the-world, doesn't go to the airport, non-renovated-anything TTC! I don't understand why everyone tolerates paying through the nose for what should be public services in Toronto.)
"It's still free for an hour before close..."
In conjunction with the price hike, they've cut that down to half an hour before close, according to Leah Sandals.
Although the ROM website does say it's still an hour.
The British Museum is also by donation... and you can get lost in there for days.
Dave, where do you get the idea that the ROM lacks cheap membership?
The student membership is only $45 bucks. Individual membership is $85 (or 4.5 visits) but the real deal is the The Family/Dual for 99 bucks that allows you to bring up to six people on a single visit, which pays for itself right there and the cool thing is that the policy is two named adults and ANY 4 kids or teens so you can bring along junior's posse if you want, in practice they don't enforce the names on the cards so it's really flexible. Both the student and the family memberships are cheaper and more flexible than what the MoMa offers.
There was an interesting article I saw recently, the MoMa figures it costs them $50 per visitor for security, cleaning and conservation vs. what it would cost them to just conserve the works if they weren't on display and that doesn't account for captial costs or acquisitions.
I stand corrected on the family membership options. However, I remain convinced that the ROM is shooting themselves and the city in the foot.
By the way, that other Libeskind remake of a regional museum (Denver Art Museum) charges $10 to Colorado residents and $13 to out-of-state visitors. Maybe ROM should think about an Ontario-resident discount since they are helping to pay for the place? DAM also has free admission on the first Saturday of every month, but we all know ROM is not going to give up that cash cow.
so sadly - you can only count on Doors Open... I'm not in Toronto, but I'm sorry to hear it becomes in a way less attractive for Torontonians
The price for kids went from $2 to $5, not $2.50 to $5.
blogto.com/arts/2007/06/rom_doubles_admission_price_on_friday_nights
The ROM is le suckzor.
Ew, I thought it had just doubled for both adults and kids. Turns out it's even worse than that. Thanks for the heads up.
For heaven's sake. If Canadian arts institutions received the level of public subsidy their European counterparts enjoy, or the level of private support our neighbours to the south give to their museums and galleries, they could afford to charge less at the gate too. Since we're talking about a non-profit Crown corporation here, accusing the ROM of greed is ridiculous: what is it you think they're doing with the money?
Yes, you are correct in that the anger is misdirected at the ROM leadership when they are only trying to manage their affairs within the parameters given to them. The anger should be directed at the province and city for underfunding, though voters seem to have a tough time making the connection.
Taking a quick look online at the NYC budget for two quick examples, the Met is getting $28 M from the city this year, and the Brooklyn Museum $8 M. These are not capital campaigns but regular operating budget infusions. How much does Toronto give the ROM?
Hey, so after verifying the changes to the "last hour of the day is free" policy, I've been told it's "last 90 minutes of the day is free" not "last 30 minutes" as was communicated in a prior interview. Sorry about the confusion on that one.
For the record, I still don't think that families should have to hang around the ROM 'til 8pm every summer weeknight, or 4:30pm weekends, to get in at an affordable rate. This keeps the ROM's "free hours" total at 10.5 hours per week, and its "$20" hours total at 59.5. So, still not a good enough solution, equity wise, in my eyes.
The ROM should always be Pay-What-You-Can, same goes for the AGO. We're a wealthy country and far too few cultural institutions, the ones we do have should be as accessible as possible.
Just to correct the original post: the Louvre is not free for students, but for anyone under the age of 18. However, as stated, the museum is free on Friday evenings for anyone under 26. Admission to the Louvre is also free on the first Sunday of every month (as are at all national museums in France).
Regular admission to the Louvre is 9 euros beginning July 1st, or $13.50 CDN -- which is still a lot cheaper than entry to the ROM.
The Louvre has so many freebies, I didn't have time to list them all. They have an entire page on their website dedicated to ways you can get in for free. People under 18 are one group, but they also offer free passes for art students.
albright knox is free friday too. only 1.5 hrs away