WOW! -- what an approach -- i hope it stays on the other side of the atlantic.i >>> MSN <[log in to unmask]> 1 Mar1998 4:58 >>> Sight for work sore eyes (new 'hire-out' scheme for major art works) Making the office a nicer place Giving the office a facelift has taken on a different meaning with a new 'hire-out' scheme for major art works. The Culture Secretary, Chris Smith, has asked museum directors to rent major works of public art to businesses to help raise money for museums and art galleries. The pieces would be put out to rent to businesses on a short-term basis. The money would go back into the kitty of the art house involved. "Provided it was done on a short-term basis, you have money coming into museums and galleries that could then be used for better facilities, " said Mr Smith. The public would not suffer under the scheme. Mr Smith proposes that galleries and museums make use of pieces which are gathering dust in backrooms. The Director of the National Portrait Gallery said he liked the plan. Charles Saumarez Smith said he supported Mr Smith's attempts to consider "imaginative ways to to raise money with a view to ensuring that we don't have to charge admission." Only selected businesses will qualify as suitable showplaces. Merchant banks, law firms, fashion houses and pharmaceutical companies are currently on the customer list. However, the art world was not uniformly impressed. An unenthused spokesman from the Science Museum said: "It would be lamentable if we lost treasures through carelessness." (BBC News) ---- The Museum Security Network http://museum-security.org/ http://www.xs4all.nl/~securma/ [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] archive of messages sent: http://museum-security.org/artcrime.html ----