You are correct. They are not precisely synonymous.
That as the predicate, how else are many of the institutions supposed to be sustained? If the concept is that Corporate America and private donors will support museums, in large measure, that is simply untrue. How many institutions on this list rely on federal funding in some way or another in order to keep their doors open? I don't mention it often (or at least I don't think it's often), but I provide a MuseFunding list for this community. For many years, I've been providing grant sources from the US government. Over the course of the last several weeks, though I have checked my subscriptions repeatedly, there are no grants coming through. Given the economy is in the toilet, highly steeped in sewage, I understand why that may be but it is disconcerting nonetheless.
In the 80s, when my kids were in school, there were many great corporate donors. My daughter benefitted highly from Arco's sponsorship of Junior Achievement, and she, in fact, was one of their poster kids in the LA area (and 1 of 4 chosen to meet the First Lady at the time). The corporation I worked for made very generous donations. The corporation I now work for makes some. But the fact of the matter is that they are not making the same kinds of donations, and, in many respects, not supporting the arts. There's been a decline in large donor giving through time, and if the large donors have just lost barrels of money, they are less apt to donate because they have less discretionary income. Given the fact that there's a push on one side of the partisan ticket to get rid of the estate tax (which will diminish some of the donations currently made because such donations are a write-off), where, then will the money come from?
Let's take this a step further. I am absolutely a fan of science and find genuine value in astronomy. Where else are we going to educate the masses about the sciences? Schools don't have the money they should, and, with No Child Left Behind, spend their time prepping for a test and not garnering a well-rounded education. This places our students behind many of the world in this regard.
Maybe I'm missing something. My understanding is that most museums struggle to keep the doors open and wages are commensurately abysmal. There are few exceptions. Are you suggesting that the government should not provide funding to museums, number one, and number two, if that is the case, should we then, according to your philosophy, shut down all museums (extrapolated further to include National Parks, zoos, libraries, and other like insitutions) that are run by the government? How do you propose that they be funded? What measures can be used that are not currently employed to achieve that result?
----- Original Message ----
From: Charlotte Reineck <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, October 8, 2008 5:09:08 AM
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Something to Consider
Thank you, Gayle, for bringing this to our attention. It is important to note, though, that "opposing federal funding for museums" and "opposing museums" are not necessarily synonymous.
Charlotte Reineck
Alexandria, Virginia
----- Original Message ----
From: Gayle <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 10:00:36 PM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Something to Consider
The debate is on. Most of politics belongs off the list EXCEPT as it affects the well being of the museums. One of the candidates, in one of the first responses made, called out the other because they had voted for a $3 million appropriation for an overhead projector at a planetarium and indicated that (paraphrasing) it was absurd to spend this kind of money for this kind of thing. This is the second museum of which I am aware this same candidate has opposed funding (the other is in Bethel NY) because his position appears to be that funding museums at the government level is pork.
The overhead projector was for the Adler Planetarium. The museum in Bethel was for Woodstock.
There are many, many issues we face in today's incredibly tough economic times, and the new president will be faced with many challenges. We talked earlier about the need to know where the candidates stand on museums. I surface these points tonight because there is new, compelling (from my perspective) evidence as to who is and who is not a supporter of the museum community.
I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions and vote your conscience.=========================================================
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