Should museums and galleries re-introduce charges?

Stoke-upon-Trent Central MP and historian, Tristram Hunt has stoked controversy this weekend in an Observer article suggesting that the Tory-led government should consider re-introducing charging for entrance to museums and art galleries.

Underneath the controversial headline of "We need to start charging for museums and galleries again" came a cry to refocus on audience development and widening access not just increasing numbers.

The three main tennants of his arguement are:

• “According to a study by Mori: "While the number of people coming through the door might have dramatically increased, the profile of a typical 'population' of museum or gallery visitors has remained relatively stable and firmly biased in favour of the 'traditional' visitor groups." Instead, working with schools, a proper outreach strategy and well-funded inclusion programmes did more to bring hard-to-reach audiences through their forbidding porticoes. Whether it was the National Gallery's use of Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks to engage single mothers or the Whitworth Gallery's proactive work in Moss Side, hard graft by curators in their communities shifted a gallery's audience and reputation. And that is exactly what is under threat. The savage assault on the English Heritage budget, for example, has forced it to close its access department which had successfully opened up history and heritage for thousands of inner-city children.”
• “So, while American tourists and continental mini-breakers have no problem paying €6.50 to wonder at the majesty of Lorenzetti in the Uffizi and €8 to feast on Velázquez at the Prado, in London it is all gratis. At New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, there is a de facto $20 entrance fee for adults, so why not a fiver for London's great galleries? Would it really undermine our cultural competitiveness?”
• “A truly equitable cultural policy might begin to think about reintroducing charges for our national museums. Naturally, one needs safeguards with schools and students retaining free entry and a free day a week reserved for residents. Some of the extra income gained could also be allocated to proper inclusion strategies and grant-in-aid funds relocated to support our provincial collections.... In these hard times, if anywhere should be free, it should be the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, not Tate Modern and its tour parties.”

Click here to read Tristram Hunt’s Observer article in full.

Adapting to Survive speaker and Shadow Culture Secretary, Ivan Lewis took to Twitter last night to voice his opinion. He tweeted, “Tristram right about impact of cuts on local museums. Wrong about ending free access nationally. Council cuts would stay same. So no gain locally”.

In the current economic climate, it seems that this is a debate that is not going to go away. What do you think about Tristram Hunt’s article? Is there an argument for re-introducing charges?