The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York will offer free entry to visitors aged 25 and under for the next three years, starting mid-December 2024, thanks to a $2 million USD donation from artist and board member Julie Mehretu, with additional support from philanthropist Susan Hess. This initiative follows the museum’s admission price hike last year, where standard fees increased from $25 to $30 USD and student rates from $18 to $24 USD, in line with trends at other institutions facing inflation and lower post-pandemic attendance.
Mehretu, reflecting on her own challenges accessing art as a young adult in New York, emphasized the importance of making contemporary art more accessible to the Wall Street Journal. “If you want to evolve the discourse, more people need to participate,” she said. Whitney director Scott Rothkopf echoed this sentiment, aiming to make the institution “one of the most accessible large museums in America.”
The museum has already seen success with other free programs, such as Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays, which brought in over 300,000 visitors last year—60% of whom identified as BIPOC and many of whom were younger than the typical museum-goer.
