Money-Grabbing By MIA?

It has been about three months since I last went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  What was I there for?  I forget, but I assume it was lovely.

I went again yesterday (Thursday) morning because it was the last weekend of the Terracotta Warriors that were found in Xi'an, China.  You should go; it's fascinating to see something that I at least have read in schoolbooks when I was in high school.  Be careful, however -- you'll have to pay a pretty penny for it.

And that should shock Twin Citians and patrons of the Institute.  Things have changed there, man.

First of all, the exhibition, like exhibitions usually do at MIA, cost money.  I don't ever remember them costing as much as $18-20 like this one did, but I have a student ID so I only needed to pay a much more reasonable $9.

Because the website recommended I reserve online I did.  Never done that before.  Nevertheless I was kind of struck that while I was checking out there was a space for donations.  When I leave the museum there are these huge glass boxes to put money in, and I usually throw in a few dollars.  With this option, I decided I would not throw in actual cash but charge it to my card -- but only a buck, mostly because I am poor right now, partly because I kind of looked askance at the, for lack of a better word, pandering.

So yesterday morning I got to the museum, which is in an area just south of Minneapolis that is getting seedier.  There is a small two-level parking ramp right next to MIA (and The Children's Theater, which is another wing of the same building) which I prefer to park in.  It's always been free ... till I got there and saw arms and a sign showing parking rates.  Parking rates?  Uh, no.

There are spillover parking lots across the street and blocks down from the museum.  I have resorted to use these whenever I couldn't find a choice space in the ramp, and they have been free -- again, till I went yesterday.  They too have arms and electronic payment machines.  What???  Why???  So I have resorted to park on the street.  Not too far away, but three cars behind me was a car absolutely festooned with bird shit.  And again, this ain't the most gentrified area of town.

It got worse when I got in.  While getting my ticket at the Information Desk I saw a sign on the front desk: "We suggest a donation of $5."  Who da eff???

What is the deal with the sudden ... craving for money?  A long time ago MIA charged admission, but it was revolutionary when the director long ago made coming to the museum for free.  I thought that was a courageous, democratic idea.  But now I see that MIA is taking money for parking and asking for money to come in.  Why are they becoming so ... solicitous?  Is the museum hurting for cash?

I find this kind of beneath an institution that once bravely eschewed money and opened up its collection of art and artifacts for all.  If this sudden money-grabbing isn't enough for them (whether it truly is necessary or if overhead charges are spurring this emphasis on revenue), and if they decide they must charge money for admission, that would be very, very sad.  But I see no way they can backtrack from this.  And the museum has already walked far enough down this dark path to put a bad taste in my mouth.