TO celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Bermuda National Gallery is offering free admission to the gallery for an entire year - thanks to generous benefactors.

Local philanthropist Dennis Sherwin, who sponsored the Paget Marsh boardwalk, was horrified when he discovered entrance to the National Gallery was $3.50. So as a birthday present he made a challenge gift to the gallery to cover the cost of admission.

Others took up the challenge and matched his donation, including gallery chairman David L. White and the Lepercq Foundation.

"I have been living in Bermuda for 30 years," said Mr. Sherwin. "I come from Cleveland, Ohio where most museums are free. I have always been appalled at charging admission to museums. And the fact that more and more places are doing it is a bigger tragedy."

He said, for example, when he first went to Georgetown University he and other students were given season passes to the symphony for $12.

"We said: `For $12, why not?' And before long it was a habit. But you can't suddenly say, `We're free' and expect the place to fit into a person's way of life. You have to make it inviting. It can't seem like a mausoleum."

Mr. Sherwin said the aim of the free admission was to make people feel comfortable about coming into the gallery.

"What is the purpose of a museum if it is not new and challenging? And how can people take it in if they feel offended before they get in the door? I feel the same about the trust museums. It would be nice if they were free.

"I used to watch nice people come up the stairways at City Hall. First of all it is hard to get them into the City Hall building. It is imposing and the city fathers are all around. If we are lucky they come up the stairway and they see a sign outside the gallery saying $3.50. They peer in the window then they walk away."

Gallery education director Louisa Flannery said the free admission was generating a great deal of excitement for the gallery's latest exhibitions: In A New York Frame of Mind and ART: New Genre, New Directions,.

"We have had a really positive response," said Mrs. Flannery.

Gallery director Laura Gorham said the free admission encouraged people to just pop in and get familiar with the place.

"We are going to encourage the multiple visits; the lunch-time visits; the `I've got ten minutes but if I have to pay for it, it's not worth it' visit." Mr. Sherwin said when he sponsored the Paget Marsh boardwalk he was disappointed when he found many of his friends still hadn't visited the marsh several months later.

"They said they didn't have the right shoes or they wanted to get the kids together and go down there," he said. "I said: `You're making a saga out of it. You pass it once or twice a day. You don't need special shoes, just add ten minutes to the drive. It's the same with the gallery, you don't need special shoes."

Mrs. Flannery said she had heard many locals say they were coming back to the gallery and many even asked to help out.

"They come in. They like the space. They like being here," said Mrs. Flannery. "They have a nice chat with the front-desk people and they want to volunteer. And our donations box is doing really well. People don't just give us a quarter from their pocket. They make a nice donation."

Ms Gorham said the gallery was undergoing a membership renewal drive and the renewals were coming in "fast and furious".

"You fund-raise best when you have a shopping list," said Mr. Sherwin. "We have a remarkable insurance industry in Bermuda. I hope they can get involved. From my point of view, this is a one- time challenge gift. It was not a big gift at all. Other people will have to pick up the slack.

"There is a discreet sign at the front telling you why you don't have to pay and a few names. I hope next year we see new names on the sign. I hope a lot of people will say: `It's time I did something.' It is a new area to get more people involved."

Mr. Sherwin said there was no point in having a museum or a gallery if there was no community involvement.

"Community involvement is the mission of any of our organisations," he said. "If we don't have community involvement then why are we here?"

He said the decision to make the gallery free for a year did not come without criticism.

"This is in the face of adversity," Mr. Sherwin said. "Many people don't think Bermuda should do this. They think if people value it, they should pay for it. I had one person say: `What will you do with them, when you open the door'?"

But he said the free admittance should have no negative effect on membership, because people rarely became members of an organisation for the free admission.

"Out of the thousands of members we have in the Bermuda National Trust, I'm guessing that only 300 of them pass through our doors every year," he said. "People become members because it does something for them."