Where Most Needed

The Baltimore Museum of Art (EIN 52-6000162 Form 990) and the Walters Art Museum (*) will drop admission fees starting October 1, according to reports in the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post.

* Why the Walters has no Form 990 listed on Guidestar is a mystery that I am still trying to resolve. The endowment fund listed (with a hand-written Form 990) is obviously not the musuem.

Admission has only been charged at these musuems since the early 1980s, and for some time they have both offered free admissions on Thursdays.  Since the museums started charging a fee in 1982, I have never paid admission to either the BMA or the Walters except for traveling exhibitions (which will continue to charge under the new plan).   

In return, the museums have received two-year funding commitments not only from Baltimore City (where both are located), but also from suburban Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County.   

Only 2 percent of the museum's budget represents general admissions fees, and the museums plan to fundraise more agressively. 

The Cincinnati Art Museum (EIN 31-0536653 Form 990) and Minneapolis Institute of Arts (EIN 41-0693915 Form 990) have already dropped admission fees, so this trend could continue to spread.