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DETROIT-Can the art world survive without massive infusions of government money?
The Museum of New Art (MONA), recently established in downtown Detroit, is a 10,000 square-foot museum located on the second level of the Book Building on Washington Blvd., next door to the Graystone Jazz Museum. It is non-profit, funded and supported by locally, nationally and internationally recognized artists, who will raise money for its upkeep by hosting auctions of their work.
Established local artist and C-pop Gallery owner Tom Thewes hails the establishment of MONA as a step in the right direction. He complained to the Detroit News that places where government funding plays a prominent role, such as the Detroit Institute for the Arts, tend to be too "politically correct" in their exhibits, and don't give enough exposure to contemporary artists who "will not always be politically correct, but speak to everyone about current and relevant issues that affect us now."
Privatization and freedom of artistic expression could be about to link arms.
