{"id":832,"date":"2023-04-22T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whattoseeinwashingtondc.com\/?p=832"},"modified":"2023-04-21T09:46:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:46:43","slug":"this-was-americas-most-popular-art-museum-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whattoseeinwashingtondc.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/22\/this-was-americas-most-popular-art-museum-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"This Was America’s Most Popular Art Museum Last Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National Gallery of Art was America’s most popular art museum last year. It beat its main competitor, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, for the first time since 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Gallery surpassed the Met with 3.3 million visits compared to 3.2 million visits at the Met’s main building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"National
Photo by Alvesgaspar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These statistics hide the decline in museum visits. Since the pandemic, NGA visits are down by 20% and the Met by 35%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both museums are historical institutions in tourist hub cities. Except New York City is over 4x larger than DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why are they so close in numbers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Metropolitan Museum of Art tickets are $30 for anyone over 12. A $200 museum visit is a drawback for the average family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you can visit the NGA for free and see over 150,000 pieces of art. Add on the other 21 free Smithsonian Museums surrounding the NGA, making a family visit to Washington, DC, even more compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Daniel
NGA has thousands of famous paintings for free<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you decide to visit this year, we recommend visiting these exhibitions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n