News-Letter

Media Credit: Eileen Huang In light of the current economy, the BMA plans to raise admissions prices this spring.

Two major Baltimore art museums have recently decided to make significant cuts in the face of the economic downturn. The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will be raising its price of admission and reducing its public hours this year but will not cut any staff, according to BMA Director Doreen Bolger.

The Walters Art Museum will maintain its policy of free admission but has already made significant cuts to its staff and galleries and will not be continuing some of its more extravagant exhibits this year and the next.

Thus far, the BMA has saved $300,000 solely through reducing exhibitions, according to Bolger.

To increase revenue and membership, the BMA will now be charging a ticket price of $8 for adults and $6 for students for admission to their Circus Family exhibition. General admission will, however, remain free.

Despite their tight financial situation, the BMA is adamant about not cutting employees or collections. "Our goal is to preserve our greatest resources - our staff and our collection - so we can continue to serve the community during this difficult time," Bolger said.

Although the BMA will not be cutting any galleries or current exhibitions for this year, it is difficult to say what may happen in the following year.

"We anticipate having to make tough choices in the year ahead such as reducing exhibitions, programs and public hours," Bolger said.

The BMA's budget for next year is still in the works, according to Bolger, and thus it is too soon to speculate on actions they may have to take before it has been approved.

The Walters Art Museum has also suffered economically in recent months, according to Director of Marketing Mindy Riesenberg.

The museum is not in debt, however their state funding and endowment is down significantly, and that is where their problems lie at the moment, according to Riesenberg.

As of this past week, the museum has cut 16 positions, although nine of those were already vacated.

In addition, the museum will be closing Hackerman House on weekdays.

The House, which displays the museum's Asian art and art of the Americas collections, is adjacent to the main gallery of the Walters. Riesenberg does not expect the closing of the Hackerman House to affect the number of visitors to the museum, since traffic to Hackerman House is never very high on weekdays, she said.

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