Is anything for free anymore that is worth seeing?

I asked myself this question after reading Chicago Guy's piece lamenting the Chicago Art Institute’s recent decision to raise the price of admission to the museum to $18.00.  It wasn't all that long ago that the Art Institute charged absolutely no admission fee, only a suggested donation of $5.00.  When museums charge $18.00 just to walk in the door, it is a slap in the face of the vast majority of the citizenry, and delivers the message that art is for the enjoyment of the arisocracy, not the common folk.

So, is anything worth seeing anymore that is free? 

The answer is unequivocably “Yes!”

Here is a sampling of a few of the things I have seen in the past few years without being asked to pay a single penny.

 Virgin and Child   Donatello

 Reliquary Casket   13th Century France

 The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 Maidens   Rubens

These items are on display at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.  The museum's permanent collection is admittedly small, about 350 individual items.  However, it is the depth of what is on display that makes this museum special.  The collection includes the usual European masterpieces, as well as ancient works from the Mideast and Greco-Roman world, Oceana, and Pre-Columbian America.

The building that holds these works could also be viewed as a work or art itself.  Designed by Louis Kahn, it makes incredibly effective use of natural lighting, and the park-like setting invites relaxing contemplation on leaving the building.

A block or two from the Kimbell is another free treasure of art, the Amon Carter Museum.  Originally focusing on art depicting the American west, the museum has since expanded its collection to show the roots of Western Art, including post-Renaissance European works.  Don’t be fooled, however.  The museum still contains the most extensive collection of Remingtons and Russells to be found anywhere.

 The Fall of the Cowboy  Frederick Remington

 The Cheyenne  Frederick Remington

The Medicine Man   Charles Russell

Swimming  Thomas Eakins

Figure  Morton Schamberg

Art is wonderful, but sometimes you need something a little less highbrow.  On a recent trip to St. Louis, I viewed these guys for free, too:

The blonde critter pictured above is a capybara.  These creatures are the largest rodents in the world, reaching four feet in length and weighing up to 140 lbs.  This one lives at the St. Louis Zoo.  I am a huge fan of the St. Louis Zoo.  And it is free.  OK, parking is pretty expensive at $11.00, but admission into the actual zoo itself won’t cost anything.

You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned anything near my current residence.  Sadly, other than our wonderful parks, there are very few sights that no longer charge for admission.  However, in my town of Rockford, I can see this for the affordable price of $6.00 (less if you are under 18 years of age, and free for everyone each Wednesday):

Meet Jane, one of the most important paleological finds since WWII.  On display in Rockford’s Burpee Museum of Natural History, Jane is an adolescent Tyrannisaurus Rex.  She is one of just a few juvenal T-Rex's ever uncovered, and one of the most complete T-Rex fossils in existence,  offering new insights into the development and behavior of those Cretaceous monsters.  Jane, and the remaining exhibits at the Burpee, are worth every dime of their affordable admission fee.

So yes, look around and you just may find there are still free things to enjoy, or if not free, affordable at least.  Even if you’re not part of the American aristocracy.