The Metropolitan Museum of Art will now have one more opportunity to thrill visitors—and "force" them into paying its $20 "suggested" admission fee. The arts institution has announced that it will no longer be closed on Mondays, starting July 1. Museum director Thomas Campbell said, "Art is a 7-day-a-week passion, and we want the Met to be accessible whenever visitors have the urge to experience this great museum."
This means the Cloisters, the Met's Fort Tryon jewel, will also be open seven days a week. The museum will open a half hour later (at 10 a.m., instead of 9:30 a.m.)—the main museum's schedule will be Friday and Saturday 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. and Sunday-Thursday 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m., while the Cloisters will be March-October: Open 7 days, 10:00 a.m.-5:15 p.m., November-February: Open 7 days, 10:00 a.m.-4:45 p.m.
Campbell added, "Last year we had record-breaking attendance of 6.28 million visitors and yet were turning away many thousands more on Mondays, when we have traditionally been closed. Our new schedule will remedy that, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to our encyclopedic collections, robust exhibition program, and wide-ranging educational offerings nearly every day of the year." The Met had a blockbuster year, thanks to its Alexander McQueen show.
