Why the ‘Pattern and Decoration’ show at MOCA is pure pleasure Asa Hursh, MOCA’s membership and annual fund manager, likens the future membership program to public radio’s “mission-driven, community-building” model.Įntertainment & Arts Review: More is more. MOCA is revamping its membership program, which accounts for about $500,000 annually in revenue. The Hammer’s membership declined by 9% the first year it went free, with an 11% drop in membership revenue, though there was a “significant increase” in people purchasing the more expensive membership packages by the next fiscal year. So even as attendance rises, membership typically drops when a museum goes free. A primary benefit to museum membership is free admission. Then there’s the whole membership conundrum. Attendance at MOCA - where general admission has been $15 - was 284,160 in 2018, so a similar rise in visitor numbers would translate to about 70,000 additional people coming through MOCA’s galleries next year.Īll of which means a slew of infrastructure and visitor engagement changes, such as more security guards and gallery attendants, more stanchions to contain lines, not to mention more simple amenities such as trash cans and toilet paper in the restrooms.

When the Hammer Museum went free in 2014, attendance jumped 25%. Switching to free admission typically means a significant jump in attendance, at least initially. So why did the change take eight months to make? Free, it turns out, is complicated. MOCA revealed plans to go free at its annual benefit in May, a switch made possible with a $10-million gift from board President Carolyn Powers. Free admission to the Museum of Contemporary Art officially kicks in Jan.

Moca museum free entrance