Grand Rapids Art Museum Free Admissions Tuesdays draws increased visitors

Starting May 28, the Grand Rapids Art Museum has been offering free admission on Tuesdays, allowing local art lovers the chance to see more art for less money.

“GRAM received a generous two-year gift from Meijer to support free admission on Tuesdays,” Natalie Thomas, communications coordinator at the Grand Rapids Art Museum says. “This has made it possible for GRAM to not only open its doors, free of admission, to the public- but also to offer programming such as docent-led gallery talks that encourage guests to further explore and connect with the works of art in the galleries.”

Since the free admission Tuesdays have begun, attendance has increased. Thomas says that Tuesday crowds have practically doubled since becoming free on the last Tuesday of May. May’s attendance records show close to 400 people, whereas June’s Tuesday attendance reached over 700. The increasing numbers reveal that the event is matching a demand in the local community.

“I think it’s a great way to open up the city to the public and bring people down here who otherwise would talk themselves out of it,” says Seth Apol, an Indiana native and recent Calvin College graduate.

Another visitor to the Museum on a free Tuesday, Taylor Vanderveen, is enthusiastic about free admission.

“I’m happy they do it,” she says. “People who really enjoy seeing art, even seeing it for the second or third time, get a chance to do that while experiencing downtown GR, and without having to worry about paying.”

She adds another aspect of the event that seems to address the rising number of attendees over the summer.

“A lot of young people in GR love this kind of thing but don’t have the extra money to justify a trip down here,” she says. “Now they can do that and not have to worry about budgets.”

Anyone who attends the free event is given access to the museum’s permanent collections and current exhibitions, which currently feature: “The Improvisational Quilts of Susana Allen Hunter,” “The Jansma Collection at Grand Rapids Art Museum: Five Centuries of Masterpieces,” “Heather McGill: Oblique Angle,” ” American Regionalist Prints of the 1930s and 40s,” and “GRAM Selects ArtPrize2012: Encore!”