Culture Chronicle

Met Museum Attendance Tops 5M
Crain's New York Business - June 30, 2010
By Miriam Kreinin Souccar

The numbers for the fiscal year ending this month ranks among the highest in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 130-year history.

Attendance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art reached 5.24 million visitors during the fiscal year that ends today, marking the first year since 2001 that attendance has exceeded five million.

The number, which includes attendance at The Cloisters museum and gardens, ranks among the highest in the Met's 130-year history.

More than 30 exhibitions were presented during the past year including Vermeer's Masterpiece The Milkmaid, which brought in 329,446 visitors and the current Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has already had 380,574 to date and runs through Aug. 15.

Thomas Campbell, the Met's director, said the landmark attendance figure "sends a signal about the enduring importance of culture and cultural institutions to the public, especially during this period of recession." *For the full article, click here *