014: The Economics of Free

Museopunks

Tyler Green (Modern Art Notes) recently wrote that “In the future, most American art museums — say, those with operating budgets of ~$7 million and up — will offer free general admission.” In this episode, the Punks talk to Green, and Maxwell L. Anderson, Director, Dallas Museum of Art, about just what it takes for museums to go free, and how new technologies, such as those that can collect extensive visitor data, make ‘free’ a new kind of proposition. Of particular focus in this episode will be the DMA’s 2013 decision to go free, and to offer free membership. How has technology changed the conversation around free and open source materials, and access to museums – whether collections, or the museum experience itself? Is the museum re-imagined in its public capacity when it does move from a paid model to a free one? Do the data-collection possibilities of free membership programs like DMA Friends promise to change how sector-wide museum metrics are gathered, and if so, what does that mean for visitor modeling into the future?