NYC's Whitney Museum is making admission free for anybody 25 and younger
New York City is packed with incredible museums, but unlike our neighbors to the south in Washington, D.C., who are spoiled with free admission, we’ve usually got to pay to get in. With many NYC museum tickets ranging between $20-$30, that can add up quickly and can become a barrier for entry.
With an eye on inclusivity and accessibility, the famed Whitney Museum of American Art is adding even more free admission options to its already robust gratis programming. As of mid-December, museum admission will be free to all visitors aged 25 years and under. That means young visitors from New York City and around the world will get access to every exhibition on view at the museum at no cost.
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The new Free 25 and Under program builds on the Whitney's popular Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays initiatives, launched in January 2024, which offer free admission for all visitors between 5 and 10pm on Fridays and all day on the second Sunday of every month. The new youth admission program is made possible with support by Whitney Board of Trustees members Julie Mehretu and Susan Hess.
"You can't have any conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion without providing access, and the culture can't change and it can't continue to grow without new and diverse voices having access to what is being created at the moment," Mehretu said in a statement. "I did not have access to contemporary art museums as a young adult, and when I moved to New York, I was waiting tables—it was hard to access contemporary art and culture, as it's hard for so many students, graduates and young people.
You can't have any conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion without providing access.
The 2024 launch of the museum's free programming is already showing impressive stats. So far this year, Free Friday Nights and Free Second Sundays have transformed the Whitney's audience, per museum officials. During these hours, the Whitney has seen double the average attendance that it sees during paid hours—with visitors being younger and more diverse on average.
For example, on Friday nights, the average visitor age dropped 10 years, and the majority of visitors (over 60%) are BIPOC. More than half of the attendees during those hours identified themselves as first-time visitors, and more than 80% of visitors 25 and under during these hours cite free admission as extremely important in their decision to attend.
The 25 and under demographic is the most diverse generation in the nation and is coping with financial difficulties.
"These figures are unsurprising since nationally, the 25 and under demographic is the most diverse generation in the nation and is coping with financial difficulties caused by a continued high cost of living, student loans, and other factors," the museum said.
All told, the Whitney's two complimentary programs have welcomed nearly 200,000 visitors this year. When all of the museum's other free offerings are taken into account, about 300,000 people have visited the Whitney for free in 2024. Just a heads up if you're planning to visit during free hours, be sure to reserve a ticket in advance as museum capacity is always limited.
“The launch of our first two free admissions programs have had such an incredible impact on our audience that we wanted to go even further in making the Whitney one of the most accessible large museums in America,” Scott Rothkopf, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, said in a press release. “You can feel the amazing energy in the galleries on free days, and I couldn’t be more excited to see that grow.”
Mehretu, a renowned painter, also hopes to see accessible programming continue to grow.
"If you really want to push and evolve the discourse, many more people need to have access to be able to participate, and this program is a step in the right direction—and we need more," Mehretu said.
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