A visit to an art museum allows you to enter a new world. You can discover something new about another time and place, or you can start to understand the experiences of others. These visits are priceless — and for Northeastern students, they literally are. Boston-based students are given free and discounted admission to art museums and galleries across the city.

Art museums have become less popular amongst college students as time has passed, with around 23% percent of college-aged students visiting an art museum or gallery each year as of 2017. However, the free admissions that art museums and galleries offer in Boston and the many benefits that come with them have enticed some Northeastern students to visit.

The Museum of Fine Arts, or MFA, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Harvard Art Museum are just a few of the many art museums and galleries that offer free admission to Northeastern students.

The ticketing prices of museums in Boston are $15 at the ICA, $20 at the Harvard Art Museum, and $25 at the MFA can quickly result in great admission expenses. But with continued free admission, Northeastern students can save a great deal of money.

“I probably saved over a hundred dollars,” said Emma Lawson, a first-year design major. “You’d only have to go four times before it costs that much.”

For art and design students like Lawson, free admission to museums and access to the exhibits aid them in completing a major task: schoolwork. 

“I need [the exhibits] for classes I’m in,” she said. “It really really helps for classes and to have our teachers know that we’re not paying $25 every visit.”

Others have personal connections to Boston art museums. Emma Rimerman, a first-year psychology major, explained that her grandmother grew up in the suburbs of Boston and frequented the MFA with her family. Since arriving at Northeastern and visiting the museum, she feels an even stronger connection to her family.

“Walking through the museum, not only am I seeing this beautiful art that I love, but for me, it’s a nice little personal connection to my family,” Rimerman said. “It’s really cool to see this artwork that’s existed for so much time. I think that’s wonderful.”

Another benefit of visiting art museums for Northeastern students is the ability to learn about other cultures through art.

“It provides a really interesting glimpse into different cultures,” Rimerman said. “There is a huge variety of art from a lot of different periods of time, a lot of different places.”

Northeastern students like Kristine Aleksandrovica, a fourth-year business administration major, believe that visiting art museums with other people can help in gaining a better comprehension of art. 

“You go there and there’s an exhibition that you don’t understand, so you talk to somebody who does understand it,” Aleksandrovica said. “It just helps you internalize it more.”

Above all, art museums have the ability to bring people together. Experiencing new cultures and ideas while making connections with others is an opportunity for students to make memories.

“The most memorable exhibitions are the ones that have been with people in Boston,” Aleksandrovica said. “When you talk about something, it really impacts and stays in your heart and mind for longer.”

Art connects different kinds of people, and the free admission offered by museums in Boston promotes this connection. Northeastern students can connect with their classmates, members of other cultures and people who have passed through a museum before them.

“Knowing how many people have walked through [a] museum, I think that’s really cool,” Rimerman said. “To see this artwork that’s existed for so much time, that’s wonderful.”