I wonder, though, if Mr. Kincaid's mass-produced sentimentality is not
dissimilar, at least in motivation, to the same sort of stuff that was
produced in the 19th century.  We revere it today -- for instance, Currier &
Ives.  Will Mr. Kincaid enjoy the same sort of position in 150 years?  Hmmm.
High art?  No.  Examples of popular culture? Yes.

Candace Perry
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center


----- Original Message -----
From: (Frank Gregory) <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2001 3:24 PM
Subject: Re: A troll! $admission$


> I was feeling a bit fiesty today and looking for a fight..but a troll!  I
> agree with everything you said except that!  You summed up quite nicely
> exactly the situation we are in.  I too know of no museum professional who
> wants to keep people out of their museum either.  I apologize for playing
> devils advocate and pressing butons, but another unfortunate result of the
> $admission$ issue is the appearance of elitism by institutions that by
their
> very nature are suspect anyway.  I have had this argument with lots of
> people both in and out of the museum world and find myself defending both
> sides depending on who I am talking to.  It is no wonder that Thomas
Kincaid
> and empty nostalgia are considered high art by our society when museums
> APPEAR to cater only to the wealthy.  In my opinion artists are as
culpable
> as museums and the rest of the industry. For years we have been making
"art
> for artists" and have left the rest of society behind.
>
>
> At 11:41 AM 02/25/2001 -0600, James Tichgelaar wrote:
> >OK, I hate responding to trolls, but the other part of the message bugged
> me more.  I know of no museum professional who
> >wants to keep people out of their museum.  I am desperately trying to get
> more people in to my museum.  It is unfortunate
> >that tax cuts and the shifting of priorities in corporations (who have
> dramatically increased dividends and executive
> >compensation while salaries and benefits have fallen when adjusted for
> inflation, along with the aforementioned cut in
> >sponsership to smaller non-profits in outlying communities) has reduced
the
> available money from those who can afford to
> >pay for education, health, welfare, and other social goods.   While it is
> argued that it is more "fair" for everyone to pay for
> >their own share of supporting institutions such as museums through
> admissions, the unfortunate result is that those who
> >most need access to educational services offered by museums and other
> non-profits are cut out by the need to charge for
> >services that were once free or low cost.  Look for more institutions to
> charge for their services if the Bush tax cut gets
> >rammed through congeress. (Does anyone remember the last time we tried to
> cut taxes, increase military spending, and
> >balance the budget?  Is it only a coincidence that that was when the
> redistribution of wealth towards the top accellerated
> >in the United States?)
> >
> >James H Tichgelaar
> >Registrar, Arkansas State University Museum
> >http://museum.astate.edu
> >
> >"All we ever wanted was everything.  All we ever got was cold."
> >
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