MFA to raise admission fee

June 03, 2011|Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff

The Museum of Fine Arts will raise admission prices for adults from $20 to $22 starting July 1, the museum confirmed today.

In addition, seniors and students 18 and older will now pay $20 instead of $18. Admission remains free for local college students and children 6 and younger. Visitors 17 and younger will be admitted for free during non-school hours. But on school days until 3 p.m., 7 to 17-year-olds will be charged $10 instead of the current $7.50.

Museum members, as always, receive free admission.

The news comes only months after the MFA opened its massive, new Art of the Americas Wing. In September, the MFA opens its renovated west wing, to be known as the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art.

The MFA announced its increase only hours after the Metropolitan Museum of Art said it would raise its entrance free on July 1 from $20 to $25. In a press release, Met Director Thomas P. Campbell spoke of "daunting, ongoing budgetary challenges" and the challenges of raising money in "this current economic climate." He also pegged the cost of every Met visitor at $40.

Rev. Peter J. Gomes says a prayer during the November dedication ceremony of the MFA's new wing. (David L. Ryan / Globe Staff)