Q&A
Whitney Museum's free admission policy and its impact on audience demographics
1:42:53
·
123 sec
Council Member Rivera inquires about the Whitney Museum's decision to offer free admission for young adults, and Jane Carey from the Whitney discusses the impact of this policy on audience demographics.
- The Whitney Museum explains the motivation behind offering free admission to young adults
- Jane Carey shares data on how free admission hours have changed the museum's audience demographics
- The discussion highlights the positive impact on accessibility and diversity of visitors
Carlina Rivera
1:42:53
Actually, I wanted to ask you because one thing that was mentioned in this conversation was serving a particular group.
1:43:00
And the Whitney recently how did you decide to go for free for young adults?
1:43:07
All the time.
Jane Carey
1:43:08
I I have to credit our director Scott Rothkopf and our care our trustee Julie Merrittu and another trustee who's in Hess for prioritizing that.
1:43:17
I think our they Julie, especially spoken very lovingly about how when she was a young artist, how important it was for her to have access to art city's cultural spaces.
1:43:28
And we feel like it it's vital importance for the institution to make ourselves as accessible as possible to young folks that might be facing other barriers for entry.
1:43:37
So we're really proud about that program that we'll launch in December that adds on to our free Friday nights every Friday from 5 to 10 o'clock and our free second Sundays where we're free every second Sunday in the month.
1:43:47
And I'll just say, since those other programs launched in January, we've seen a very different we've seen a difference in our audience.
1:43:54
Our audience during our free admission hours is typically 10 years younger than our general audience.
1:44:01
Gosh.
1:44:02
We're 60% 5 o'clock during our free admission.
1:44:04
We're 36% during regular hours, and also the household income has dropped.
1:44:09
So we're really proud of that work, and thanks for the opportunity.
Carlina Rivera
1:44:11
That was gonna be my follow-up question.
1:44:13
It's like, how is it change or type of visitor?
1:44:15
That's very interesting.
1:44:16
I think someone else oh, I just so before we just go to council member Paladino has a question.
1:44:21
I just wanted to also say, like, in this conversation, you know, Ryan told me this a long time a lot not a long time ago, but it's, like, stuck with me that I think that there's unfortunately an expectation that artists forgive me.
1:44:34
I'm paraphrasing.
1:44:36
That artists and people that work with artists are gonna create.
1:44:39
There's just an expectation that you'll continue to create, and that's not necessarily fair to you all, and you're deserving of of funding and support.
1:44:46
So that's why we're trying to bring you into these spaces where you're so so relevant and influential and beneficial.
1:44:54
So thank you.
1:44:56
Council member Paladino?
