Disturbing news is coming out of the Milwaukee Public Museum: they want to reduce or eliminate the popular “free day” that many Milwaukee County residents enjoy currently on Mondays.
What’s telling in all this is the red herring of a reason being used to justify the move.
Finley said the purpose of raising the issue was not necessarily to try to bring in more revenue to the museum, but to bring uniformity to various county attractions.
“With all the cultural institutions in town, there is a hodgepodge of discounts for county residents,” Finley said Monday. “It would be easier on all the residents if we had consistency among all the institutions.”
Apparently, the MPM now sees itself as the scheduler for all of Milwaukee’s cultural institutions and because their “free day” doesn’t match up with the one at the zoo or the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum should just get rid of it. Good to know.
It’s misguided reasoning to be sure, and if the end result of such a course would only inflict damage internally on a privately held institution, that would be another matter. This however, is the Milwaukee PUBLIC Museum which we all pay to support whether or not we visit it.
The “free day” for Milwaukee County residents is a huge success and as the article points out, Monday is the busiest day of the week for a reason. And that’s a good thing! Thousands of people who may not otherwise have the means to visit the MPM are able to get the educational and cultural benefits from doing so because there is a “free day” for them to utilize.
School children from the inner city are a particular group that benefits from the free Monday policy and it would be a crime to deprive them of the cultural and educational opportunities the MPM provides. Getting kids excited about learning is something the MPM does well and I think their Board of Directors as well as our elected Supervisors understand that.
Hopefully, they’ll all agree to shoot this idea down as quickly as it was raised.
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and son Carter.
I just renewed my family’s membership there. I’m going to write them and object to this bad idea. (Heh, you can tell my wife’s a lawyer. Or at least, I can.)
Having this monday as a free- Day is especially important more now than ever!Seniors that are on a fixed income and children that are out of school for vacations need this place to relive our beautiful present and past history! Let us all be proud of this place and keep Milwaukee Residents on a one day free-be!!