Should museums and art galleries be free of charge for the general public, or should a charge, even a voluntary charge, be levied for admittance?

One very complex issues in today's world is the funding for museums and

art

galleries. Some people argue that it should be free and the

government

should provide funds for the maintenance, but few others argue that there should be an

entry

fee for museums and

art

galleries. In

this

essay, I am going to examine both sides of the issue. Those who argue that museums and

art

galleries should be free typically make one to two arguments. The

first

argument

is that if there is an

entry

for

Suggestion

to

museums,

then

the poor cannot afford to visit and only the rich would be able to visit museums and

art

galleries. They feel that museums and

art

galleries are a public service and

government

should take care of

such

places and it should be made free for public so that anyone can walk into the museum.

For example

, the city of London has some museums that are free for general public and it is maintained by the

government

and from income generated by selling their merchandise. The

second

argument

is that more people will visit if it is free, whereas if there is an

entry

fee

then

chances of people visiting the museums are less.

In contrast

, the

argument

on the other side of the debate is that museums and

art

galleries must have an

entry

fee. One of their

argument

Suggestion

arguments

is that museums and

art

galleries must be maintained with the funds generated from visitors and not from the

government

funds which is the tax payers money. They feel that

government

funds should be used for development work and for crisis management.

Also

, people feel that museums should charge their visitors not only for their survival, but

also

to upgrade their collections. They should add new collections so that more and more people are attracted.

This

way museums and

art

galleries can provide employment for many people as they need people to maintain the museums and

art

galleries. In conclusion, my personal opinion is that there is no clear answer to whether museums and

art

galleries should be free or not. Perhaps, it is possible for some museums and

art

galleries

to have

Suggestion

have

a free

entry whereas

Accept comma addition

entry, whereas

, others can charge their visitors. It

also

depends on the location where the museums and

art

galleries are located.