The Met (maybe) proves that words matter.

Last week the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that their $25 suggested admission price would be mandatory for non-New Yorkers.  Since they are dealing with a $15 million budget deficit they had to do something, but there's more to the story than that.

The museums original charter in 1893 mandated that "the public should be admitted free for at least 5 days a week and 2 nights," to the building, which the city owns.  A subsequent agreement between the city and the museum in 1970 allowed for a donation of a nominal amount from all visitors.

The rationale is that since the city owns the building and contributes $26 million to the annual budget, local visitors should get a break.  But, these days, 40% of visitors are from outside the US and an additional 24% are from outside NY state.  So that means only 36% of visitors are actually New Yorkers paying taxes to support the institution. (Deb, 2017)

It's also important to note that with this change, the city will be reducing their funding of the Met and reallocating the money to other less popular museums.  My guess is that this is the first step in transitioning the Met to a private non-profit partnership based on the Central Park Conservancy model.  It makes sense.  The Met is the fifth most popular museum in the world, so they can probably pull it off.

But back to the word change.  In 2013, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Met.  At that point the wording on their signs said: "Recommended Donation."   Settlement of the suit in 2016, resulted not in an end to the fee, but in a change in the way it was expressed.  Instead of "Recommended" the signs would be altered to read "Suggested." Changes were also made in the font size and placement of the words.

So how did these changes affect donations?  It's hard to say exactly since the only data that has been released is a comparison with 2005.  But in that time,  people paying the full admission price has declined from 63% to 17%. (Freeman, 2018)

The lawsuit got a significant amount of press, and travel apps now tell people all about free opportunities.  So those things no doubt contributed to the decline as well.

But at the end of the day, one has to believe that the word change played a significant part in the reduction of donations, proving that words do matter - perhaps more than we realize.  Choose yours with care.

Deb, S. (2017, May 14)  Would Fees at the Met Deter Visitors?  nytimes.com.  Retrieved January 10, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/14/arts/design/met-museum-fee.html?_r=0

Lam, K. & Behr, K. (2016, February 27) Met changes fee signs to 'suggest' $25 ticket, rather than 'recommend.' pix11.com.  Retrieved January 10, 2018, from  http://pix11.com/2016/02/27/met-changes-fee-signs-to-suggest-25-ticket-rather-than-recommend/

Freeman, N. (2018, January 4)  Met to Charge Mandatory $25 Admission Fee to Out-Of-Towners, Ending 'Suggested' Rates. artnews.com.  Retrieved January 10, 2018, from

http://www.artnews.com/2018/01/04/met-charge-mandatory-25-admission-fee-towners-ending-suggested-rates/