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Cultural infrastucture bailouts?

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10. Create an emergency bailout fund for cultural institutions in dire need. A mere $250 million would do.

That’s former art museum director (SFMOMA, Whitney) David Ross, finishing up a Twitter list of 10 urgent suggestions for President-elect Barack Obama in the area of cultural affairs in the United States.

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Ross does not say so, but it’s no stretch of the imagination to guess at least two of the institutions that prompted the thought: One is the Detroit Institute of Arts, the other is L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art. (Feel free to add the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa.; if you’re a follower of the performing arts, make an additional list of opera companies, orchestras, etc.)

At the very least, a lot of the ‘dire need’ in the national arts infrastructure could be eased by the amount of money likely to be doled out by Wall Street in a few unearned year-end bonuses. In a crisis, Washington tends to spill enough money to fund any number of excellent art museums.

--Christopher Knight

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