The Met files proposal to charge entry fees

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Met files formal proposal to charge entry for out-of-state visitors | The Metropolitan Museum of Art has taken a step towards introducing mandatory entrance fees to visitors from outside New York, reports the New York Times. After reports that it was considering the change in policy, the institution filed a formal proposal to the city this week. The Met has traditionally operated on a policy of ‘suggested donations’. ‘We will review [the proposal] carefully’, said Tom Finkelpearl, the city’s commissioner of cultural affairs. ‘The city is committed to working with the Met to ensure that its unrivalled collection and programming remain accessible to all New Yorkers’.

Gallo-Roman era necropolis discovered in Pas-de-Calais | A necropolis dating from the 1st century AD has been unearthed by contractors working on a building site in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France (French language article). The site incorporates three tombs carved in stone – a rarity from the era. Archaeologists working on the site hope to unearth at least one tomb, which may end up on display at the region’s Capland museum.

National Gallery of Canada receives major gift | Collector and real estate developer Bob Rennie has donated C$12m (£6.7m) worth of art to Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada, reports the Art Newspaper. The gift is intended to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, and includes work by well known national artists such as Rodney Graham and Geoffrey Farmer, as well as a piece by Colombian artist Doris Salcedo.

Sotheby’s launches $250,000 award for museum sector innovation | The auction house Sotheby’s has pledged to grant an annual prize to support innovative achievements in the museum sector. According to the Architectural Digest, the Sotheby’s Prize will award $250,000 to an institution, museum director or curator to help them realise ‘trailblazing, potentially landscape-changing, projects in the cultural field’. The winner of the inaugural prize will be chosen this autumn by a jury including Okwui Enwezor and Nicholas Serota.

Cécile Debray to direct Musée de l’Orangerie | Curator Cécile Debray has been appointed to lead Paris’s Musée de l’Orangerie, taking over from Laurence des Cars, who has left to direct the Musée d’Orsay. Debray has worked as a curator at several museums, notably the National Museum of Modern Art in the Centre Pompidou.