Art Institute of Chicago to Hike Admissions Fee

Published: March 12, 2009

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CHICAGO—On May 23, the Art Institute of Chicago will increase its admission fee from $12 to $18, the Chicago Tribune reports. Entry fees for seniors and students will jump from $7 to $12, and children under 12 will still get in free.

However, the museum will no longer charge admission for its ticketed shows — like the current retrospective of Edvard Munch, which has a $20 fee — at least until the end of 2009.

The price hike comes fewer than three years after the museum instituted mandatory admissions fees. Until June 2006, they were “suggested.”

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Spokeswoman Erin Hogan said that the museum’s new $283 million modern wing “has already been paid for, and the increase is not related to the current economic climate... or about any shortfall or deficit. It is about keeping up with operating costs, which all museums are faced with. It is about not having an admissions increase in five years and about keeping up with our peer institutions.”

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