Three of France’s most popular musuems, The Louvre, The Musee d’Orsay and The Palace of Versailles, will soon be open to visitors every day, the French government announced. The move “will allow better access for the public and better access to the works,” according to the French Culture Ministry. (more…)

The Whitney Museum will keep its doors open on Mondays next month, providing visitors an extra day to visit the vast Jeff Koons retrospective before the institution closes its uptown space for its move to the Meatpacking District.  The new hours are in effect until the exhibition closes on October 19th. (more…)

Beginning May 1st, The Smithsonian Institution will initiate rolling cuts to the hours of certain museum institutions, and will close other galleries to compensate for the sequestration budget cuts.  The cuts, which consisted of a 5% reduction of the total budget, has been handled by scaling back travel and training programs, but museum leaders warn that major sacrifices may be necessary if the reductions remain in place through 2014. (more…)

Beginning July 1st, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be open to the public 7 days a week.  The changes also apply to The Cloisters museum in northern Manhattan, and are the result of a decision to make the spaces “accessible whenever visitors have the urge to experience this great museum.”  Says Museum Director Thomas Campbell. (more…)