My strongest feeling, though, was that they could have built a couple of schools in New York for the same money and created something of both beauty and lasting value.
I believe that there is an error in this line of thinking. There is no "the same money". If this privately-funded project did not exist, the funds collected for it would not have gone to building schools. Christo and Jeanne-Claude fund their projects largely by selling original artwork, prints, books, and other objects based upon their project. It's a self-sustaining, circular funding arrangement that resembles entertainment-industry marketing much more than any form of philanthropy or public works.
The serious issue of school funding -- and for all of us on this list, music education funding -- has to be put in the context of the priorities set by the state for its budget and, to a much smaller extent, for private philanthropy (which is intimately related to taxation). In _this_ context, we are really talking about "the same money", and music education ultimately does stand in direct competition with guns, butter, highways, pensions, healthcare, and protecting the environment.
Daniel Wolf _______________________________________________
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