Rising Museum Admission Fees Spark Debate on Art and Profit

Novelist Keiran Goddard reflects on the increasing admission fees at major museums, including the Guggenheim, the Met, the Whitney in New York, and SF MoMA in San Francisco, which are hiking prices from $20–$25 to $30. Drawing on a personal anecdote of being scammed by a street caricaturist at the Louvre in Paris seventeen years ago, Goddard argues that the price rises are symptomatic of a deeper issue: the entanglement of art institutions with profit-driven motives. He criticizes museums for functioning as engines for tax avoidance, reputation laundering, market manipulation, labor rights violations, and colonial theft. Goddard contrasts U.S. museums with British museums, which offer free access despite other flaws. He calls for a reimagined museum model akin to libraries—universally free and community-governed—and advocates for broader societal changes like shorter working hours, cooperative ownership, and universal basic income. The article was published by ArtReview.