Breaking with a commitment to free access for all, Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) has just announced that General Admission charges will be introduced for the first time in 25 years.
Sitting opposite the Sydney Opera House in Circular Quay and welcoming a reported one million visitors per annum, the MCA Australia is the country’s only public museum that is solely dedicated to contemporary art. In April 2024, it welcomed its 20-millionth visitor since they opened the doors in 1991, and ever since the turn of the century, its been free to explore the museum's collection and exhibitions like the experimental Hustle Harder (recognised in the inaugural Time Out Sydney Arts & Culture Awards), with the exception of ticketed major exhibitions, like this summer’s big show Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory.
The MCA states that the move has been introduced out of necessity to secure the Museum’s future. As of Friday, January 31 2025, visitors to the waterfront gallery will be charged a $20 entry free. At the time of publication, it's not clear if visitors will also need to pay full price for ticketed exhibitions in addition to the general admission fee (adult tickets for the summer show mentioned above, for example, are $28, not including the booking fee). However, the MCA has also announced that it is looking to maintain free entry for Under 18s and for Australian students.
The MCA’s Chair, Lorraine Tarabay, made the announcement on Wednesday morning, which comes a year after the institution publicly announced critical financial troubles and made a plea for greater support from the government.
“We are disappointed to have to introduce a General Admission charge, however we want to ensure MCA Australia remains a world-class contemporary art Museum – one that Sydney deserves,” said Tarabay. “Introducing a General Admission charge will help the Museum remain sustainable into the future. Our duty is to ensure that the Museum can continue to deliver its ground-breaking exhibitions and programs, connecting people to contemporary art and ideas in Australia and beyond.”
The MCA has confirmed that its annual recurring government funding sits at $4.36 million, representing only 14 per cent of its operating costs. A media release about the situation stated: “Current government operational funding is at the same level as it was in 2008, in spite of 17 years of inflation and immense cost escalation, a doubling of visitor numbers over the period, and a new wing added to the Museum in 2012. In the three years since the pandemic, the Museum has been forced to take such measures as closing one day a week.”
Tarabay added: “We are grateful to the government for their continued support, however significant cost escalation combined with stagnant funding has necessitated this move. Other museums are owned by [the] government and have funding levels which support free access – this is not the case for MCA Australia, which is funded at a fraction of the government-owned museums.”
This news follows the recent opening of Canvas (pictured below), a brand-new fine-dining restaurant on the rooftop of the MCA, which replaced the more affordable gallery café that came before it. The movement into a higher price bracket for rooftop dining at the MCA has drawn some criticism from some locals who are die-hards for an alfresco coffee and cake – however, we'd argue that in today's economy (and going off the bloated prices you'd usually find on gallery dining menus), $85 for a two-course menu and $100 for a three-course menu on Sydney Harbour is relatively reasonable. And it is worth noting that the gallery's new ground-floor café is now twice the size.
So, are we approaching the end of an era when it comes to free admission to museums and galleries? The MCA is certainly not the only institution to introduce more cost barriers for visitors. As stated by journalist Celina Lei in an article for ArtsHub: “Others, including state institutions, have taken a less straightforward approach of introducing more paid offerings than free ones, whether that be ‘must-see’ exhibitions with general appeal, bundle packages or additional programming.”
Lei continues, “Research has shown, however, that visitation numbers can be negatively impacted by the introduction of admission fees, making it a gamble of inverse correlation, in addition to the risk of facing public criticism, losing trust and philanthropy.”
We want to hear from our readers – will you think twice about your next visit to the MCA if you have to fork out $20? Or do you think it’s a fair price to cop to support a struggling cultural institution?
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