Do-It-Yourself Art at the Met

Featured on cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com

Dear Diary:

In 2013, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art decided to end its 42-year practice of offering visitors colorful metal tags as admission tickets, many people (myself included) lamented the loss of what had become a beloved symbol of that venerable institution.

However, a recent visit to the Met made me realize that the new, more economical system of stickers, though less elegant, is perhaps more fitting, as it unwittingly transforms museumgoers into collaborative artists.

As patrons exit the Great Hall and pass through the grand quartet of Corinthian columns to the east, a large board asks them to affix their stickers before leaving. This parting request in essence invites visitors from near and far to contribute anonymously to a collective work of art, a growing collage that marks another memorable day at the storied museum, in a shared finale.