Now that it’s been settled in its new location for almost a year, the Barnes Foundation is getting comfortable and raising ticket prices — which wouldn’t really be newsworthy if it weren’t for the reason they’re providing for the change. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the museum is overcrowded and lots of visitors don’t know how to behave. Barnes President Derek Gillman offered these choice words:
“We’re seeing many more people not familiar … with what is proper behavior.” He added that the gallery wanted those additional visitors, but with new gallerygoers “we’re seeing more transgressions of people touching things and getting too close” to the art, he said.
Popularity’s a bitch, ain’t it?
The new ticket price for adults, up to $22 from $18, now includes the audio guide, which tells visitors not to touch or get too close to the art. Another Inquirer article reports that Gillman himself will be heard on the guide, “accompanied by chamber music,” saying: “Please don’t sit on any of the chairs in the room. That’s what the benches are for.” So in theory, most people will now get the audio guide and be lulled into obedience. In practice, it sort of looks the museum is raising prices to stave off the masses.
POLICE VISITOR BEHAVIOR WITH SOOTHING CHAMBER MUSIC AND PATRICIAN ACCENTS. ENLIGHTEN THE MASSES IN OBEDIENT WORSHIP AT THE ALTAR OF HIGH CULTURE AND FANCY CHAIRS.
Is this a museum, or a fucking finishing school? Barnes Foundation, you sure know how to make me want to touch all teh art.
Barnes Raises Ticket Prices So That People Will Stop Touching the Art: