FYI: Art Museum Prices, Hours Changed

The Milwaukee Art Museum is changing its hours and pricing.

Perhaps it’s in response to the tough economic times or just a new way to increase regular attendance. Either way, the Art Museum will now be closed on Mondays, instead of being open seven days a week (the brise soleil and parking garage will also be closed), and will no longer charge a separate fee for special exhibitions starting today.

The museum is being "prudent and proactive" while continuing to hit its revenue goals, said Elysia Borowy-Reeder, the museum's marketing and communications director, to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This shift in hours and pricing is also to help reduce operating costs and to give workers time to do routine maintenance and art installation.

The museum will remain open on major holidays that fall on Monday, however, such as Memorial Day, Labor Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when attendance has traditionally been high.

Starting February 7 (the opening day for the Jan Lievens exhibition), the museum will no longer charge a separate fee for special exhibitions. Instead, the MAM will sell a new “all access” ticket that will allow you to see everything on display without restriction and for just one price. As a result, though, admission will get bumped up a bit.

Now, tickets cost $12 for adults, $10 for students, seniors and active members of the military, and $0 for children less than 12 years of age. This is a $4 increase for adults and seniors, and a $6 jump for students, but everyone will save on admission for the feature exhibitions, which will probably increase attendance to such shows.

General Admission at the MAM had previously been $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for students and free for children under 12. Tickets for special exhibitions, which also included access to the permanent collection galleries, were $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students and free for kids.

By comparison, adult admission is greater at Discovery World and the Harley-Davidson Museum, where tickets are $16.95 and $16, respectively, but lower at the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Haggerty Museum of Art, where it costs $11 and free to get in. So, getting into the Art Museum is still on the lower end.

The Art Museum’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, except Thursday, when it will be open until 8 p.m. Additionally, the museum will remain open until midnight on the third Friday of every month for special MAM After Dark events, like this one.

For more info, head over to the Milwaukee Art Museum’s website or call (414) 224-3200.

Comments

[pilfus]

Overall I am pretty happy with this decision. I always thought the admission was quite reasonable but thought the additional cost for the special exhibits was a bit much. I think they created a pretty happy medium that actually went more toward the benefit of the consumers.

I am not positive on this, but I believe Wednesday admission will continue to be free for Milwaukee County residents. Which is also a plus. :)

[Karen]

Very true. And based on what I've read, you're right about Wednesdays still being free for residents (with proper ID, of course).