Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is changing their admission policy beginning Saturday, June 14.
The art museum will charge $8 admission for adults and $5 admission for seniors and veterans. Individuals under the age of 18 and full-time college students will continue to enjoy free admission as the museum’s traditional focus remains on youth education.
The decision to charge an admission fee is in response to a decline in funding combined with inflation and a proactive measure to avoid reductions in operating hours and staff.
Museum Director Patricia Goodwin said foot traffic for the museum is about 100 people a day, maybe an additional 50 during summer season. Changing the admission policy has been considered the past couple of years and the experience they offer is certainly worth the admission fee, she said.
The ArtFields Winners Collection, on display throughout the summer: May 31- Sept. 21, features 27 contemporary prize-winning artworks from the ArtFields Festival in Lake City, South Carolina.
“We have on display a lion jumping out of the wall. We have a large, wonderful wall sculpture made of denim. We have chimes playing on one wall. It’s contemporary art at its finest and most intriguing,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin said the Art Museum is the first museum to feature all 27 winning pieces from over the years and the second time ArtFields has loaned out the artwork.
ArtFields is an annual art festival with 400 artists throughout the southeast showcasing and competing with their artwork. The Winners Collection on display throughout the summer features the grand prize winners’, second prize winners’ and peoples choice winners’ artwork from years 2013-2024 of the Artfield Festival.
The change in admission also coincides with the museum’s summer exhibition Cora Ennis Morris: Seasonal Observations. The summer exhibition was created by a Savannah-based artist and highlights nature’s changing seasonal palette with “vibrantly hued, mixed-media cyanotypes.”
Museum members will continue to receive free admission to all exhibitions and individual memberships are available starting at $50. Family memberships are $75 for a year’s worth of free admission. Membership benefits include access to lectures, workshops, special invitations to unique events and more.
The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is located at 3100 South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
