In addition to finding it difficult to get museums/cultural institutions to
collaborate within a community, we face "turf" wars in some regions.
By that I mean instances where institutions will extend their missions and
programs in ways that compete with already existing ones.
An example is a rural arts center, having no collection of its own, moving
into a cultural heritage concept that includes exhibits of prehistoric
materials. "Arts" can attract more funding and the arts world has greater
snob appeal to donors. It is a black-tie oasis in a farming region.
This has diverted funding and donors away from an existing and struggling
collecting institution devoted entirely to the region's rural cultural
heritage, prehistoric through the rough and tumble 19th century, with a
populist rather than elitist appeal.