Will The Rich Keep Supporting Philly?
Peter Dobrin takes a look at one of my favorite American cities and writes: ‘Philadelphia has opened most of the new concert halls, theaters, and other arts spaces it set out to build in the culture boom of the past two decades. Now, who pays the piper? If this were Europe, the operating budgets of a Kimmel Center, Please Touch Museum, and Barnes Foundation would be covered largely through government subsidies. But here, we rely on philanthropy and ticket sales. And more than ever, arts groups must chase the populist (and fickle) ticket buyer while accommodating philanthropists with strongly expressed agendas. They call the tune.’
