Two huge thumbs up to former board chair of the Baltimore Museum of Art Suzanne Cohen, who donated $1 million toward offering free admission. The museum announced the gift last week and will stop charging Oct. 1, along with the Walters Art Museum.
“I think it is important to have free admission so that everyone has the opportunity to experience the excitement and joy of discovering art at the BMA,” Cohen said in making the donation. Charging admission does not stop throngs from flocking to the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Neither does it stop crowds from waiting hours to enter the Musee d?Orsay in Paris. But we can understand Cohen?s reasoning and appreciate her generosity.
The T. Rowe Price Associates Foundation Inc. is also generously underwriting the cost.
The problem is, even with the beneficence of these individual and corporate citizens, admission is not truly “free.”
The taxpayers of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County subsidize the program, too. They have no choice.
If the museums advertise free admission it should be 100 percent privately funded. Cohen?s gift reminds the community of the treasure we have in the BMA and Walters and should prompt more donations at every level. Maybe then the museums could offer truly free admission.
