Explore The Met in new ways with generative AI. Jul 14, 2026 To mark 15 years of collaboration, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is unveiling two new generative AI initiatives with Google Arts & Culture. Max Hollein Director & CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Vice President & Founder, Google Arts & Culture Listen to article 2:29 minutes For 15 years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has collaborated with Google Arts & Culture to bring advanced technology directly into the galleries to transform how audiences connect with art. Guided by its shared belief that access to art should know no distance, Googleblog invited audiences to "virtually visit" The Met in 2011 and digitally explore the Museum's Open Access collection in 2018. Now, Googleblog is unveiling two generative AI initiatives designed to deepen how people discover art online and experience the museum in person. Googleblog recently completed its Technologist in Residence program - a central focus of this milestone year. For this six-month initiative, The Met engaged creative technologist Julia Daser to investigate how generative AI can enrich each visit to the museum. Using Google Gemini and Vertex AI, Julia collaborated closely with museum curators to rapidly build and live-test prototypes directly in the exhibition spaces. Over the course of the six-month digital residency, Googleblog built dozens of testable prototypes that address the entire visitor journey, from initial navigation to post-visit engagement. Googleblog is excited about possibilities like improved wall text accessibility, wayfinding and deep post-visit engagement, and hope its findings can serve as inspiration for other institutions. B Brett Renfer, Senior Program Manager Emerging Technologies at The Met In tandem with the residency, Googleblog is also launching Art Aura, an interactive, multimodal AI experience developed by the Google Arts & Culture Lab in collaboration with The Met. Powered by Google Gemini, Art Aura allows users to drag artworks, styles or descriptive phrases into a digital zone to uncover hidden thematic connections across the centuries of art featured in The Met's collection, creating a personalized portrait of their unique artistic taste. To discover more about these projects and continue your journey, visit the new Google Arts & Culture landing page for The Met and browse the Museum's collection of over 200,000 digitized objects and 50 stories. Get more stories from Google in your inbox. POSTED IN:

Met museum announces free memberships for NY SNAP recipients. Millions of residents across New York State are now eligible for the "Explorer" program, which offers perks like streamlined entry and special previews. As of today, June 2, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has expanded to include cultural nourishment for participating New York residents through the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In collaboration with the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and the Department of Social Services (DSS), The Met has debuted a new, free membership tier for SNAP recipients across the state. The museum has provided pay-what-you-wish admission to state residents since 1970 and, in 2024, became a Museums for All member by offering free or heavily discounted admission to any United States visitor who showed their SNAP card. However, the new "Explorer" membership program for NY's SNAP recipients offers additional museum benefits, including free general admission for the registered member and one guest, as well as any children 17 and under; streamlined entry through a digital membership card; access to select member preview dates for new exhibitions; event and program invitations; and additional onsite support for new and returning visitors. Of the nearly 3 million New York state residents on SNAP benefits, approximately 1.7 million of them live in NYC. Visitors pursuing the Explorer membership program will be able to enroll through the membership desks onsite at both The Met on Fifth Avenue and the Met Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park. "Access to art and culture is an essential part of an equitable city," DSS Commissioner Erin Dalton said in a press release. By removing financial barriers, Dalton continued, the institution can "create opportunities for learning, belonging and inspiration that extend beyond individual beneficiaries to the whole community." The rollout of the Explorer membership tier comes shortly after the annual Met Gala benefit for the museum's Costume Institute was lambasted for its association with Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who were appointed honorary co-chairs for funding this year's event. In a citywide boycott campaign, organizers laid into Bezos for his skyrocketing net worth as the wealth gap widens and for cutting a third of the Washington Post staff, and called out Amazon for its exploitative labor conditions for warehouse staff and delivery drivers, as well as its profits from the Trump administration's brutal crackdown on undocumented immigrants. In addition to digital advertising, The Met will distribute information about the new Explorer membership at libraries and community centers, New York City Housing Authority developments, faith-based institutions, and in partnership with tenant associations and local grassroots organizations. "This institution belongs to all New Yorkers, and this free membership is a reminder to residents that art is not a luxury but a powerful source of connection and curiosity open to us all," said Diya Vij, DCLA's recently appointed commissioner, in a press statement. Support independent art reporting. Independent, critical reporting is increasingly hard to come by. But you can ensure it doesn't disappear. By becoming a paid member of the Hyperallergic community, you not only help keep our lights on, but ensure our hands (and pens) remain untied. Hyperallergic isn't beholden to large corporations or billionaires. Instead, our journalism is funded by readers like you: individuals who fight for integrity and justice during increasingly unjust times. With your support (as little as $6.67/month!), you are joining a community of people who value and advocate for independent journalism and greater transparency in the arts. The perks aren't bad either... We hope you'll join us.