Maybe it’s just me, but I find it ironic that on the same day it reports the state’s bailout of SECCA, the Journal editorializes on director Lawrence Small’s money problems at the Smithsonian Institution:
Small’s case is an aberration from the norm. Most directors of public-service institutions understand that they cannot live as well as the leaders of major corporations. But his case is not unique. In North Carolina, the leader of the state history museum was found, a number of years ago, to be inappropriately using museum money.
Federal taxpayers provide the Smithsonian with $715 million a year. The rest of its money comes from private donations, corporate sponsorships and the institution’s own business enterprises, such as the gift shops.
It did not matter that Small was paid from non-government money. The entire institution is owned by the people of the United States. They support it generously not only with their taxes but also with donations and by buying products sold through the institution’s business associates. Americans have the right to expect that the dollars they send to the Smithsonian will be spent wisely and judiciously.
Let’s hope the Journal is as offended by the situation at SECCA, because I don’t see much of a difference between misappropriation of funds at a nonprofit museum and managing a nonprofit art gallery so poorly the state has to take over to the tune of unknown millions. Obviously, money wasn’t spent “wisely and judiciously” at SECCA, either.
Instead, I expect from the Journal a cautionary tale combined with hope for the future, just because it’s SECCA, afterall. Hopefully there will be no mention of state ownership causing censorship concerns as SECCA tries to regain its stature as a “hotbed” of contemporary art. The public owns SECCA now, so the eye of the beholder when it comes what constitutes “art” is now a bit more critical.
