Word: art
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...schools, as well as for the University Art Museums and for Memorial Church...
...Chair of the Campaign for the Harvard University Art Museums, Desmond G. FitzGerald '65, says he's too much of a "minor league" donor to receive a call from Rudenstine...
Where, then, do we draw the line? Public funding of desecration of religious symbols and sacred objects of singular significance is out, but what about art meaningfully representing subject matter that merely conflicts in a serious way with ones worldview? Should a born-again evangelical have to see his tax dollars spent on representations of homosexuality? How about Marcel Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase?" He might just fear hellfire and brimstone as punishment for underwriting any display of carnality. Heck, what about a fanatical tree-hugger--should his tax dollars help house murals depicting the brutal subjugation...
Perhaps the government should play no role in funding art. That, indeed, would be a neat solution. No delicate categories to demarcate, no slippery slopes to get tripped up on and none of the moral ambiguity. No Smithsonian perhaps, and no safeguarding of the nation's cultural heritage either; working class families might even have to pay discomfittingly higher ticket prices in private galleries...
...that's not really a satisfactory arrangement either. Government clearly has a compelling interest in making quality art accessible to those who might not otherwise be able to enjoy it, if for no other reason than that the maintenance of healthy civic institutions is more likely to be carried on successfully by citizens with refined sensibilities than by couch-potatoes. The difficulty in devising just funding guidelines is no excuse for giving...