Art Institute Admission Fees on the Rise

By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 11, 2009 6:40PM

The Chicago Park District Board has unanimously voted in favor of raising admission fees to the Art Institute of Chicago. Starting May 23, admission for students and seniors will go from $7 to $12 and regular adult admission will increase by 50 percent, from $12 to $18. That same month, the museum's new 264,000-square-foot Modern Wing is set to open. Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner defended the unpopular move, saying, "The Art Institute is a world-class museum with rising expenses like any other entity. With the number of free days that they have, it still remains accessible to the citizens of Chicago.'' Those free days include every Thursday evening year-round and Friday evenings in the summer. [CBS 2]