We all hope that it's going to be short-lived. Indeed, the current cycle is a shock to the system after so many years of unprecedented prosperity. Fortunately, museums say, they got while the getting was good, starting their major capital campaigns while plenty of money was floating around so that now they are nearing those goals rather than just beginning to set them. I think if we lived on the West Coast in the dot-com world, maybe we would be more affected. But even there, museums say their major donors include old money as well as new, and note that large technology companies now consider arts giving an integral part of their marketing strategies.
Museums are part of the marketing plan.
We're perceived as a bargain. We will prevail. Arnold L. Lehman, director of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, sounded a similar note. I don't believe in self-fulfilling prophecies, but if everyone has formulated their thinking toward a downturn toward recession by and large we'll get there. Mr. Lehman said the museum was proceeding with its major initiatives redoing the main entrance on Eastern Parkway and making major changes in its permanent collections.