Last month, I had the good fortune to visit the newly opened modern wing at the Chicago Art Institute.
The Renzo Piano extension makes the institute the second-largest art museum in the US, a fact about which the city is justifiably proud. As well as providing an incredible light-filled space in which to display its modern and contemporary art, the museum has redisplayed a large proportion of the rest of its collection, and has also created a new education suite with space for family learning.
At more than $300m, it didn't come cheap - and it is impressive that the vast majority of that came from private donors. But before politicians and museum directors in the UK start salivating at the thought of such generosity, a note of caution.
Most of the money was raised before the recession hit, and the extra running costs of the new space, about $20m a year, mean that the institute will have to carry on fundraising at a ferocious pace.
The other downside is that admission costs have jumped from $10 to $18. The first weekend after it opened, admission was free, and an astonishing 46,000 people visited.
The correlation between access to museums and free entry is not a straightforward one, but with nearly 20 per cent of Chicago's population living in poverty, it would be fair to say that $18 will be a deterrent to some.
One of the highlights of the new wing is a pedestrian bridge that forms an aerial walkway between the museum and the heart of the city. If only access to the collections was as easy.
By contrast, Pallant House Gallery in Chichester has just launched a campaign to offer free admission by 2012 (see link below). It is obviously not on the same scale as the art institute, but it does show a difference in attitude.
When the gallery won the Gulbenkian Prize in 2007, it said it would put the money into a seed fund to finance free entry in the future. Now it has put its money where its mouth is - and I can't think of a better way to spend the cash.
Sharon Heal, editor
sharon@museumsassociation.org
A review of the Chicago Art Institute will appear in the September issue of Museum Practice
The Renzo Piano extension makes the institute the second-largest art museum in the US, a fact about which the city is justifiably proud. As well as providing an incredible light-filled space in which to display its modern and contemporary art, the museum has redisplayed a large proportion of the rest of its collection, and has also created a new education suite with space for family learning.
At more than $300m, it didn't come cheap - and it is impressive that the vast majority of that came from private donors. But before politicians and museum directors in the UK start salivating at the thought of such generosity, a note of caution.
Most of the money was raised before the recession hit, and the extra running costs of the new space, about $20m a year, mean that the institute will have to carry on fundraising at a ferocious pace.
The other downside is that admission costs have jumped from $10 to $18. The first weekend after it opened, admission was free, and an astonishing 46,000 people visited.
The correlation between access to museums and free entry is not a straightforward one, but with nearly 20 per cent of Chicago's population living in poverty, it would be fair to say that $18 will be a deterrent to some.
One of the highlights of the new wing is a pedestrian bridge that forms an aerial walkway between the museum and the heart of the city. If only access to the collections was as easy.
By contrast, Pallant House Gallery in Chichester has just launched a campaign to offer free admission by 2012 (see link below). It is obviously not on the same scale as the art institute, but it does show a difference in attitude.
When the gallery won the Gulbenkian Prize in 2007, it said it would put the money into a seed fund to finance free entry in the future. Now it has put its money where its mouth is - and I can't think of a better way to spend the cash.
Sharon Heal, editor
sharon@museumsassociation.org
A review of the Chicago Art Institute will appear in the September issue of Museum Practice
Links
Pallant House sets sights on free admission by 2012, Museums Journal June 2009, p11
Pallant House sets sights on free admission by 2012, Museums Journal June 2009, p11
