Metropolitan Museum of Art Announce Attendance over 6 million

(New York, July 16, 2012)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that 6.28 million people visited the Met during the fiscal year that ended on June 30. The number, which includes attendance at The Cloisters museum and gardens, is the highest recorded since the Metropolitan Museum began tracking visitor attendance more than 40 years ago. The total number of visitors was nearly 600,000 greater than in Fiscal Year 2011. 

“We are delighted by this extraordinary response to the Met’s collections, exhibitions, and programs over the past year,” said Thomas P. Campbell, the Metropolitan Museum’s Director and CEO. “Anchoring this success was the public’s interest in the new galleries for our Islamic collection and our American Wing, with each of those areas receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors in their inaugural months. Attendance at our exhibitions, which covered a broad spectrum of topics traversing centuries and geographic areas, was also strong throughout the year. The growth of our audience—frequent as well as first-time visitors from around the world—once again demonstrates that the Met is a truly global museum for this truly global city.” 

Visitors in Fiscal Year 2012 were drawn in large numbers to the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia (opened November 1, 2011) and the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts (opened January 19, 2012). As of June 30, 2012, these gallery areas had 593,000 and 365,000 visitors respectively. Exhibition attendance was also particularly strong through June 30 for The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde with 324,000 visitors, The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini (205,000), Tomás Saraceno on the Roof: Cloud City (179,000), Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations (166,000), and The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis at The Cloisters (97,000). 

Last summer’s popular exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty—which closed on August 7, 2011, and had extended hours in its final weeks—drew 662,000 visitors. It contributed to the record attendance in Fiscal Year 2012 during its final five weeks (July 1, 2011, through closing day). 

The 6.28 million attendance figures includes nearly 218,000 school visitors who were welcomed by the Museum, nearly 3,200 more than the previous year. Membership has now reached a record-breaking 170,000. 

Additionally, the Metropolitan Museum’s website (www.metmuseum.org) had 44 million visits in Fiscal Year 2012. The Museum’s Facebook page now has more than 677,000 fans and its Twitter feed has more than 471,000 followers. 

Hours

Tuesday–Thursday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.*
Friday and Saturday: 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.*
Sunday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.*
Closed Monday (except Met Holiday Mondays), Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1

Saturday evenings are made possible by the William H. Kearns Foundation.

*Galleries are cleared fifteen minutes before closing.

---

Met Holiday Mondays

The Main Building of the Metropolitan Museum and The Cloisters museum and gardenswill be open on the following Met Holiday Mondays:

• Labor Day: September 3, 2012
• Columbus Day: October 8, 2012

The public restaurants in the Main Building will be open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Met Holiday Mondays.

---

Admission

Fee includes same-day admission to the Main Building and The Cloisters museum and gardens. There is no extra charge for entrance to exhibitions.

Recommended
Adults	$25
Seniors (65 and older)	$17
Students	$12*
Members (Join Now)	Free
Children under 12 (accompanied by an adult)	Free

To help cover the costs of exhibitions, we ask that you please pay the full recommended amount.

Save time. Buy online today. Purchase express admission in advance:

Sign Up for Daily Emails

Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner