The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York is raising the price of standard adult admission from $25 to $30, matching recent increases at peer institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which made its standard admission fee for adult out-of-towners $30 last year) and the Whitney Museum of American Art, which made a similar change last month.
The recent decisions to raise admission prices come as many museums struggle to lure back as many visitors as they had before the Covid-19 pandemic. While the Guggenheim Museum had 750,000 visitors in 2022—a 152% increase over 2021—that figure still pales in comparison to the nearly 1.3 million visitors it had in 2019. According to a recent report by the American Alliance of Museums, two thirds of US museums are only seeing about 70% as many visitors as they did before the pandemic.
The Guggenheim's admission price increase, effective today (1 August), also reflects the rising costs of operating museums, which are just as vulnerable to inflation as other organisations. The workforces at many US museums—including the Guggenheim—have also formed unions in recent years, securing better wages and benefits for workers, which have added to operating costs.
“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,” Sara Fox, a Guggenheim spokesperson, told The New York 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.”
The Guggenheim's admission-free Saturday evenings will expand by an hour, spanning 5pm to 8pm.