When the renovated Museum of Modern Art opened in New York in 2004, its $20 adult admission price raised eyebrows. Four years later, DC’s Newseum, with a $20 charge, is just the latest in a growing trend toward pricey museums—even in a city where most of the government-run Smithsonian is free.
DC’s Madame Tussaud’s is $21.15 per adult, and the International Spy Museum clocks in at $18. The new National Museum of Crime & Punishment, opening in May near Gallery Place, will cost $17.95. Across the country, the Guggenheim in New York asks $18, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Science both charge $17, and San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art charges $12.50.
The priciest museum in the nation? Madame Tussaud’s in New York, which charges $29.
Not All DC Museums Are Free
When the renovated Museum of Modern Art opened in New York in 2004, its $20 adult admission price raised eyebrows. Four years later, DC’s Newseum, with a $20 charge, is just the latest in a growing trend toward pricey museums—even in a city where most of the government-run Smithsonian is free.
DC’s Madame Tussaud’s is $21.15 per adult, and the International Spy Museum clocks in at $18. The new National Museum of Crime & Punishment, opening in May near Gallery Place, will cost $17.95. Across the country, the Guggenheim in New York asks $18, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Science both charge $17, and San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art charges $12.50.
The priciest museum in the nation? Madame Tussaud’s in New York, which charges $29.
Read our review of the Newseum here.
For more on media, politics, and the DC scene, click here.
This article can be found in the April 2008 issue of The Washingtonian.
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