Towards Equitable Met Ticketing

On March 1st The Met changed its 50 year pay-what-you-want admission policy. Now, out of state visitors must now pay a flat $25.

This is a mistake.

Please read our full statement here.

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Proposal: Price admission
on a sliding scale by visitor income .

$0

$0-10k

$1

$10-15k

$2

$15-20k

$4

$20-25k

$6

$25-30k

$8

$30-35k

$10

$35-40k

$12

$40-45k

$14

$45-50k

$18

$50-60k

$21

$60-75k

$24

$75-100k

$28

$100-125k

$30

$125-150k

$32

$150-200k

$35

$200k +

If you make ____ per year, we recommend that you pay ____ for admissions.

We propose a sliding scale of recommended payment tiers from $0-$35, applied to all visitors, in-state and out.

Visitors have the option to pay as they wish, in accordance with this scale or not, however ticket prices should be explicitly recommended.

What's at Stake

The Met’s value is not universal: it reflects its affluent, largely white, founders and donors.

For first-time visitors outside typical museum demographics, the cost of entry can go far beyond ticket price:

Unaccounted Cost and Labor

Beyond additional costs — such as transportation, childcare, and time diverted from paid or domestic work — there is the labor of investing in a space without knowing if it’s invested in you.

This includes navigating the cultural codes of a historically white institution, viewing one’s culture through a western gaze, as well as submitting to a bag search and guard surveillance.

Read more about this.

A flat $25 is equal, but disregards the unaccounted cost and labor.

A sliding scale is equitable, taking into account the additional cost and labor.

A flat $25 admission fee will cut off communities that the Met seeks to serve — especially marginalized and low-income out-of-state visitors and undocumented individuals.

The Met needs the time, insight, and labor of these communities in order to fulfill its commitment to “reach out to the widest possible audience in a spirit of inclusiveness.” Sliding scale pricing recognizes these unaccounted costs and contributions, moving toward a more inclusive and equitable system.*

*To fully offset the unaccounted cost and labor for potential visitors who are most marginalized, the Met would need to pay them to attend. See Look At Art. Get Paid.

Where the Met Stands

$41.7M

The Met’s single-ticket revenue in 2016-17. The Met says that admissions revenue has grown proportionally slower than its operating costs.

$48-53M

The Met’s goal for their new admissions policy is to raise ticket revenue by $6-11 million dollars.

$9.13

The average ticket price paid by the Met’s ~4.5M visitors in 2017. The Met’s suggested price for an adult ticket is $25.

How Does Sliding Scale Perform?

4.5M

The number of visitors who purchased a single-visit ticket at the Met in 2016-2017. This diagram shows an approximate income distribution of these visitors.

The diagram below shows a complete breakdown of ticket prices for each income bracket.

Total Sliding Scale Revenue: $53M

This surpasses the Met's high-end revenue goal for an $11M increase in admission revenue.

For a breakdown of our working numbers, assumptions around visitor truthfulness, and sources, see our complete work here.

I would pay to visit The Met on a sliding scale.

To sign the petition, please add your name and email below.

Proposal By

Gradient

Gradient is a sliding scale payment platform to make online commerce more equitable.

Supported By

Look At Art. Get Paid.

LAAGP is a socially engaged art program that pays people who wouldn’t normally visit art museums to attend one as guest critics.

A Blade of Grass

A Blade of Grass partners with individual artists and collectives to enact social change.