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When the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York announced a change to its admissions policy in 2018, striking its much-loved pay-what-you-wish ticketing in favor of mandatory fees for non–New Yorker visitors, many criticized the institution for doing away with one of the many things that made it special. (ARTnews’s editor-in-chief, Sarah Douglas, and its executive editor, Andrew Russeth, were among its detractors.) Through the Met’s new arrangement with New York City, a portion of the museum’s revenues had to be given to the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), which revealed on Monday what arts institutions would be receiving increased funding in 2019 because of the Met’s fees.
In a release on Monday, the DCLA said it has allocated $2.8 million to 175 arts organizations throughout the city. Of that sum, $1.4 million will be given to 160 organizations through the Cultural Development Fund, and 16 more institutions in the Cultural Institutions Group—a consortium of museums and centers that cater to “underserved communities,” according to the DCLA—will receive $1.4 million.
In a statement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “New York is the cultural capital of the world not only because of our hallmark institutions, but because of the smaller museums, shows, and organizations throughout the five boroughs. They deserve meaningful investment too. This agreement has allowed the Met to thrive while giving us a unique opportunity to increase cultural investment in our underserved communities—allowing us to support the diversity that makes our city great at no additional cost to taxpayers.”
Among those receiving extra money from the Cultural Development Fund are the New Museum, Artists Space, Triple Canopy, Rhizome, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, and the Drawing Center. Those increases range from $1,000 to $40,000.
The 15 Cultural Institutions Group organizations receiving extra funding are being given between $25,000 and $175,000 more than usual. El Museo del Barrio, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts are receiving $175,000 increases each. MoMA PS1 and the Queens Museum are also receiving increases in funding.
Daniel H. Weiss, the president and CEO of the Met, said in a statement, “The admissions policy is performing precisely as we hoped it would—our museum is welcoming record levels of visitors, the increased revenue is supporting our always ambitious exhibition and education programming, and New Yorkers are continuing to enjoy pay-as-you-wish pricing.”
The full list of institutions receiving increases in funding can be found on the DCLA’s website.