A very rare Andy Warhol print was recently put on display in the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) for the first time. You can go see it Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for $9, or $7 if you’re a student or senior.
Although the gallery—like all major museums in Ottawa—offers free admission for anyone on Thursday nights from 5-8 p.m. that’s quite simply not enough to make it cost-accessible.
There are several issues with this current system.
First, $9 is almost one hour of minimum-wage work, which can often be more than people are able to pay.
Second, the gallery’s hours are restrictive. In a city full of students, business owners, and government workers, going to a gallery before 5 p.m. is pretty much impossible.
Galleries and museums are struggling to get young people through their doors and remain relevant, yet they’re creating barriers to everyone getting in. If hours are set during times when people have to work or go to school, no one will go. The NGC needs to explore new options. If the gallery can’t afford to create longer free hours or drop their price point, they need to at least have longer daily hours and change the timing of their free admission.
Attendance at the gallery is bound to increase if the hours included times that people are actually able to go. Why not stay open until 8 p.m. every night and give people the opportunity to get out of class, or off work, and get there?
Similarly, Thursday nights aren’t a great night to have free admission. But imagine Saturday nights where after grabbing dinner in the market, you could impress your date with your affinity for culture at the NGC instead of a movie.
Art is a critical part of any culture and there should be as few barriers as possible to accessing and learning about it. After all, what’s the point of having a Warhol print if no one sees it?
