Enjoy this article?
Most Museums Journal content is only available to members. Join the MA to get full access to the latest thinking and trends from across the sector, case studies and best practice advice.
Sainsbury Centre introduces ‘Pay if and What You Can’
First UK museum to run ‘universal’ ticketing policy across whole venue
The Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia in Norwich has introduced a universal “Pay if and What You Can” ticketing system across the whole museum, breaking down the traditional boundary between collection and temporary exhibition pricing. It is the first UK museum to introduce such a policy.
The new universal ticket scheme kicks off on 12 March as two exhibitions open at the venue, Empowering Art: Indigenous Creativity and Activism from North America’s Northwest Coast and Julian Stair: Art, Death and the Afterlife, both playing on the strength of the museum’s world collections and its focus on ceramics.
Previously costing £14 for a ticket, these temporary exhibitions will now be up to visitors to judge what they can afford.
Visitors will be asked to pay only if they can and in whichever way they want upon arrival. They will then be given an access-all-areas ticket and map to explore as they like. The centre also comprises two restaurant-cafes, free gallery tours, free learning events and a shop that will all be accessible with the ticket.
The universal ticketing policy has been brought in under the directorship of Jago Cooper, who began as executive director of the Sainsbury Centre in 2021.
Cooper said: “Our ambition is to enable and encourage more people to visit and enjoy one of the most genre-defying art museums in the world. An open and dynamic arts landscape across the whole museum provides a better experience for everyone who visits us. This is just the first of several transformations the Sainsbury Centre will be undergoing in preparation for a major relaunch in April 2023.”