"MAGA affiliation constantly compromises the ideals of institutions that are structurally dependent on wealthy people. A museum can't easily tell a MAGA-supporting board member to take their money elsewhere because that person controls funding, connections, and often other board members. Galleries face similar pressures with their collector base. The question for institutions isn't just, "Can the entity take the financial hit?" but also, "Should we close?""
"To date, only The Kennedy Center's forced closure provides a high-profile example of MAGA politics shutting down an arts operation entirely. Shuttering isn't failure. Nobody wants to lose art, but it's more important to save your soul. The goal isn't just to keep operating. It's to center your values within what you do so your work means something. If we don't have that, we have nothing."
Artists can decide to refuse sales to MAGA supporters as a moral choice, but the ability to do so depends on personal finances, gallery relationships, and leverage. Individual artists generally have more agency than institutions, which are structurally dependent on wealthy donors whose politics can compromise institutional ideals. Museums and galleries often cannot reject MAGA-aligned funders without risking funding and connections. Institutional closure has occurred, most notably at the Kennedy Center, showing political affiliation can shut operations. Closing or refusing funding may protect institutional integrity. Declining a sale carries fewer structural consequences for artists, though financial hardship can follow.
Read at Hyperallergic
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