At the age of 7, Heather Nielsen visited a museum in Denmark and saw her first Picasso.
It was a powerful memory for her, Nielsen said, and one that - along with a childhood full of exposure to culture - did much to shape her love for the arts. Now she works to do the same as the Associate Director for Learning and Engagement for the Denver Art Museum.
This month, the museum announced a move that may help encourage more kids to love the arts - making admission free for those ages 18 and younger. It’s a move that other Colorado museums are watching.
Including the Fort Collins Museum. Its new executive director, Lisa Hatchadoorian, wants to emulate the Denver Museum’s policy.
“That’s been one of my goals in coming to the museum,” Hatchadoorian said. "More outreach and more accessibility for everybody, but specifically kids."
As their traditional crowd base ages, the arts are under increased pressure to grow new audiences. But to Hatchadoorian, the urgency is more about providing exposure at a critical time in a person’s development -- youth.
“It’s the time when you’re learning in different ways and forms and you want to give people as much of a breadth of knowledge as possible,” she said. “We live in such a technological culture anymore… I don’t want people to be lost and buried in screens all the time. I want that kind of interaction with the world that only art can give you.”
To that end, Hatchadoorian is looking at ways to increase accessibility for all.
The museum was always a popular stop on Downtown Fort Collins’ First Friday Gallery Walk, but visitation dropped when it began charging admission to the monthly event a few years ago, she said.
In December 2014, about 80 visitors came to the museum during First Friday. In February, when the museum went back to offering free admission for First Fridays – thanks to a three-year sponsorship deal from The Eye Center of Northern Colorado -- more than 650 people attended. April’s First Friday opening had lines of people – including many with kids in tow - waiting to see the the museum’s ‘Masks’ exhibition.
In Denver, the DAM isn’t the first to offer free admission to younger patrons – New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County’s Museum of Art and Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art have had free admission policies for youths for a while. But it also won’t be the last, DAM’s Nielsen said.
“We know that experiences in museums can be really, really impactful,” she said. “I think museums are going to get way more creative in how they can really support that access and take away the price tag.”
Youth admission isn’t pricey now at the Fort Collins Museum of Art. Admission for those ages 7 to 18 is just $1 (ages 6 and younger get in free). Boulder’s Museum of Contemporary Art takes it one step further with general admission at $1 for anyone 12 and older and free for those 11 and younger.
At Denver’s Clyfford Still Museum, admission is $3 for those 17 and younger.
The trend of making culture more accessible for youth seems to be spreading throughout the Front Range. The recent addition of cultural institutions to My Denver Card participants means area kids now get in free during weekends and school vacations.
My Denver Card was funded by a measure Denver voters approved in 2012. The discount program gives area students ages 5 to 18 free access to museums and art hubs, including the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Center for Performing Arts.
The trend of making museums free won’t devalue the experience, though, Nielsen said, adding that the “value” isn’t just in the cost of admission but in the experience.
And according to a recent study, museums and arts venues can’t put a price tag on getting those experiences in early.
According to a National Endowment for the Arts survey released in January, adults who attended performing arts events or visited museums as children were three to four times as likely to do so as adults. Exposure to the arts in childhood was found to be a stronger predictor of adult arts participation than education, gender, age or income.
Of course, that’s no surprise to Nielsen.
“One of the things we know in museums is that we’re going to depend on future audiences and future audiences happen when young people have impactful visits to the museum.”
