Near-record crowds prompt LA museum to extend King Tut exhibit

By: Associated Press | Saturday, November 5, 2005 8:39 PM PST ∞

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will extend the King Tut exhibit by five days to accommodate near-record crowds, an exhibit promoter said.

The exhibit will be open through Nov. 20, John Norman, president of Arts and Exhibitions International, a co-producer of the tour, said Wednesday. Longer visiting hours also may be announced.

LACMA officials declined to comment on any extension. A news conference is scheduled for Thursday to discuss the exhibit's economic impact.

Norman said the five-month LACMA exhibit ---- the first stop on a four-city tour ---- ultimately will be seen by about 900,000 people.

About 810,000 Tut tickets had been sold as of Oct. 25, said Michael McDowell, senior director of cultural tourism for LA Inc., the trade group that is partly funded by the city to promote L.A. attractions.

Visitors have paid $25 on weekdays and $30 on weekends to view 120 artifacts, 50 of them from Tut's tomb. The exhibit had generated an estimated $200 million in spending, McDowell said.

The attendance would be the second-most for an L.A. art exhibition. More than 1.25 million people turned out for the 1978 King Tut exhibit at LACMA, which featured the boy king's mummy.

Tut's next stop will be the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where the exhibition opens Dec. 15 for a four-month run.

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