Dear Erin, Just try to run a museum, large or small, urban or rural without those Federal tax dollars! We need the NEA and NEH and IMLS and those federal granting programs, even though the procedures are so cumbersome. The regranting programs that NEA and NEH do on the state level, for the state councils, are really important, especially to small town museums, like the one I run. We need more not less money. We're still feeling the hit in Georgia from the NEH cuts a few years ago -- we used to get $25,000 grants; now we get $9,000 if we are lucky per project. RE: SENSATION. The problem is our American culture's love affair with slick marketing and our tabloid mentality. SENSATION was SENSATIONAL to get ATTENTION from the media. If you're not a scandal, the media do not pay attention. Of course, I don't advocate being SENSATIONAL. in the manner of SENSATION since I run a history museum, not a contemporary art museum. The commercialization of SENSATION -- the collector's bit about selling the pieces and generating the hoopla so that the prices would be higher -- that's what really bothered me. We're in the museum not the commercial gallery business. There's a line there, a boundary. The other good thing about federal grants is that they are sort of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Local funders, corporate funders, wake up and see that the museum where you work, the one that is struggling to survive and doing really innovative programs, actually is credible. If you can compete at the national level, local support is improved. Nothing succeeds like success! Good luck with your survey. pamela sezgin Executive Director Georgia Mountains History Museum ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).