From the WAPO: Cultural Groups Ask What to Mount Next. The Answer, Increasingly: Losses
As if the arts needed a recession to let them know how little Americans appreciate high culture. Museums are beginning to sell off their collections to pay bills, symphonies are closing their doors, and artists around the country are finding themselves without options.
Art built human society. Without art, we would still likely be Neanderthals, yet it's place in our culture is a toss away from the trash bin. Unlike France, and other countries around the world, where protecting their artistic legacies is one their primary concerns. Americans are quick to discard anything of value in order to save their Mercedes.
It doesn't help that, with few exceptions, American museums charge obscene entry fees and stopped being "teaching institutions" a decade ago. Our culture cannot seem to grasp the simple reality that creativity is as important to painting and sculpture as it is to mathematics, science, politics, city planning ... or, simply, everything that touches our lives.
Our museums can't afford to fail any more than our banks.
Stage of Emergency