Guggenheim becomes latest NYC museum to bump admission prices to $30

August 3, 2023

The esteemed Guggenheim has now joined the MET and Whitney — bumping up admission prices by 20% as museums across the country struggle to regain pre-pandemic visitor levels.

When the Guggenheim opened in 1959, 50 cents would get you inside the modern art museum — equivalent to just over $5 in today’s money.

But on Tuesday, admission was jacked up by $5 — with the priciest level at $30 — a first in nearly a decade just to contend with declining visitors and rising operation costs.

The museum has been in a fiscal crisis since the pandemic, The New York Times reported, and Guggenheim officials told the outlet there was no other choice but to raise prices.

Visitor levels are down 16% since 2019, and in June, the slump was 26% — dropping from 89,600 visitors to 65,900, The Times reported.

The museum’s newly unionized staff has also cited rising expenses and inflation that are putting pressure on workers’ wallet.

People are seen waiting outside the Guggenheim. — The Guggenheim joins the ranks of the MET and the Whitney, bumping up admission prices by 20 percent.

Former New Yorker Laura Siegelman, 38, who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., said the Guggenheim was her “favorite museum as a little girl and still is,” but that the price increase was “ridiculous.”

“I’ll suffer the indignity of paying $30 because I don’t live here anymore, so it’s more palatable. I can chalk it up to New York being its ridiculously expensive self and then go home to Florida and start saving up for my next trip,” she told The Post on Thursday.

“But I don’t believe for a second that the board or committee, or whoever makes these kinds of decisions, is happy to raise prices to this ridiculous level. I wouldn’t want their job.”

A ticket to the Guggenheim is pictured — But on Tuesday, the modern art museum bumped up admission prices by $5 – a first in dearly a decade – to combat the growing problem of less visitors coming to enjoy the art, but the cost of running such an institution rising.

Teresa Accardo, 63, of Huntington said it “breaks the heart” to see the Guggenheim raising prices.

“I’m being dramatic, but it really does,” she told The Post. “Museums aren’t supposed to cost this much.

“I love coming here and I’m going to keep coming here, but with a little chip on my shoulder that I think will impact my ability to enjoy these treasures,” she continued. “I remember coming here in the late ‘70s when the city was going through a whole other kind of crisis, and I don’t remember what I paid but it was a negligible amount. Thirty dollars? You feel that.”

Canadian Kristen Manuel, 43, who is visiting with her family from Toronto, came to see the “This is New York” exhibit. She sympathized that museum’s financial plight but questions its morality, arguing “art is supposed to be for everyone, right?”

Adult tickets will be $30, while seniors and students can get in for a reduced rate of $19. The museum has been in a fiscal crisis since the pandemic, and Guggenheim said it didn’t have much of a choice but to raise prices.

“I think $30 is pretty steep, but then again, so is $25. Everything is skyrocketing,” she told The Post. “I can sympathize with the plight of museums seeing memberships decline, but I’m not sure the solution is to raise prices. The old model in which tickets were affordable to just about everybody seemed to work.”

Manuel said she believes the higher ticket price would be a “turn off” for some and could lead to access to art “only available to the rich.”

“I think that’s a big turnoff to a lot of people who would otherwise be delighted to come here,” she told The Post.

The Guggenheim said the higher prices are due to the financial strain of the last three years, causing the first hike in eight years.

“As we recover from the lingering financial strain caused by the pandemic, the museum needs to increase its admission prices, which have not been adjusted since 2015,” Guggenheim spokesperson Sara Fox told The Times.

“The new rates align with those of the museum community in New York City and will help support the operational costs of the museum.”

Fox called out the Metropolitan Museum of Art — just blocks from the Guggenheim on Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile — and the Whitney Museum of Art for also upping the admission ante to $30.

The MET raised its prices $5 in July 2022, effectively making it the most expensive museum in the city at the time.

The MET is pictured — This follows in the footsteps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (pictured), which was the first major NYC museum to raise adult admission prices to $30 in July 2022.

“The Museum is always seeking a balance between ensuring that we are providing as wide access as possible, and generating critical support for our programming,” a museum spokesperson told The Post at the time. “We think… having a modest increase for out-of-state and international visitors, for the first time in 11 years, is fair and appropriate.”

The MET still offers a pay-as-you-wish option for New York residents and students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The Guggenheim also offers a pay-as-you-wish option, but not as extensive as the MET’s — only offering those tickets on Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Whitney, located downtown in the Meatpacking District, raised its prices in mid-July, and specifically noted in its announcement it “now matches those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art” for adult tickets.

New York isn’t alone.

The Whitney Museum of Art is pictured — This July, the Whitney Museum of Art (pictured) also raised prices to $30, noting in its announcement that it “now match those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art” for adult tickets.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art also raised admission to $30 — and the Art Institute of Chicago has replaced the MET as the most expensive, with $32 tickets for out-of-state museum-goers.

Chief Operating Officer at the Art Institute of Chicago, Eve Jeffers, said the museum’s costs have risen $6 million in the last five years due to inflation and wage increase, The New York Times reported. It has also suffered a 25% loss in visitors compared with pre-pandemic levels.

In addition to admission prices, museums typically get tax exemptions for being non-profits and receive government subsidies.

The MET received $26 million for the 2023 fiscal year to support its $300 million budget, The Times reported. The Guggenheim got $520,000 for its $67.7 million budget.

Some of NYC’s richest cultural institutions also got federal bailouts during the pandemic — including the Guggenheim and the Whitney.

The Guggenheim received a $5.94 million Paycheck Protection Program loan in 2020 after furloughing 92 staffers and projecting a $15 million revenue loss. The Whitney laid off 76 people and got a PPP loan between $5 million and $10 million.

Art inside the Guggenheim is pictured — In addition to admission prices, museums typically receive tax exemptions for being non-profits and receive government subsidies. The Guggenheim received $520,000 for its $67.7 million budget.

The New York Botanical Garden, Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Frick Collection, and the Morgan Library and Museum also received PPP loans in 2020.

Across the 35,000 museums in the US, many are trying to find ways to bypass rising prices, which usually results in a further dip in visitors.

And many have raised fees during leadership transitions to make it harder to place the blame on just one person. The Guggenheim and the Whitney have recently seen their directors retire, The Times reported.

Many art enthusiasts also blame the younger generation for rising prices, noting they’ve been taught culture should be free.

“If you are used to getting music basically for free on your phone, why pay for art? The museum format is antithetical to how some people are used to getting culture,” Harry Phibrick, the interim executive at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, told The Times.

“Each institution has to balance putting up that cost barrier and attracting diverse audiences.”