IMA returns to free admission

There's a place you can go to find paintings by Rembrandt and Van Gogh, a steel plaque featuring a medieval African soldier and Robert Indiana's iconic pop-art painting "LOVE," for free -- the Indianapolis Museum of Art.\nThe museum is returning to its no-cost general-admission price for the first time in more than two years.\n"Connecting people with art is our mission and our passion," Director and CEO Maxwell Anderson said on the museum's Web site. "We believe the IMA is a source of creativity and innovation that is meant to be shared and experienced by everyone in the community." \nThe museum's support from corporate and individual donors allowed it to make the change. Admission was free before the museum's reconstruction in the first half of 2005. After it was rebuilt, the general-admission price was set at $7 for adults.\n"The revenue stream for general admission was a small percent of our income," spokeswoman Jessica DiSanto said. "Our corporate partners and individual givers enabled us to eliminate the (admission price), because we had other sources to lean on. Art museums are for everyone -- and we need to expose everyone to our collections." \nThis goes counter to the trend at several other museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which in 2004 raised its general admission to $20 -- the highest museum admission price in the nation.\nDiSanto said more people are visiting the museum now that admission is free.\n"We're already above projection for a typical January," she said. "... We've been delighted to hear from our visitors how delighted they are not to have to pay a $7 admission fee."\nSome special exhibits will still cost money to attend, she said.\n"Most of the time, those exhibitions come with very high rental fees," DiSanto said.\nIn addition to the revenue earned by its gift shops and membership fees, the museum has received $350 million in grants, with especially large donations coming from the Lily Endowment, to allow the museum to provide its services for free.\nJenny McComas, the curator of post-1800s Western art at the IU Art Museum, was pleased by the Indianapolis museum's decision to abolish its admission prices.\n"I think it's great that their admission is free again," McComas said. "It helps make the artwork accessible to everyone."\nFor more information, visit the museum's Web site at www.ima-art.org.