Four world-class museums are set to be built in the United Arab Emirates, and will include both local and international artists. Other museums have also been suggested for surrounding areas such as Dubai and Qatar. The unprecedented effort is expected to cost millions of dollars, but some question the success the museums will have. Trying to place a thriving cultural district in an area that is filled with conflict and still loyal to old traditions doesn't necessarily equal success. Also, how they will find staff was a question raised. However, the countries hope that the museums will bring in tourism money in an area that heavily relies on the profit generated from oil. Join discussion...

Museums in the US, including several of the famous and rich, are decaying in all aspects. The endowments have been dramatically cut down and recruitments for new workers have been haulted, in some museums workers are even being layed-off. Some of the museums going through this include the Kimbell Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Getty Trust. Hopefully they will be able to bounce back from these difficult times soon, but it is impossible to be completely sure. Join discussion...

"Art and wealth are rarely strangers—one person’s history of art is another’s sociology of conspicuous consumption," states Adrian Ellis of London's The Art Newspaper. Recent changes in wealth distribution toy with the art world in a myriad of ways. The art market, now vibrant, and the museum building boom introduce a vital issue to the artistic community: the relationship between active private collectors and public museums. Lately, on a global scale, "new museums and galleries that are conceived, funded and run privately" have sprung up, creating a phenomenon similar to that which occured in the U.S. Guilded Age. The collections are permanent, and act as significant additions to "the cultural fabric of the city", encompassing a "range of curatorial, conservational, public and scholarly programmes." Founders of such institutions do not believe that donation to public institutions affords any degree of control - their draw backs include limited opportunities for display, and even lack of conservational standards. However, these new institutions are "often erratic in their governance," and the art represents acquisitive interests of a single person, a "passionate and single minded interest" - the complete opposite of public museum's universalist impulses. As economic inequalities widen, the class of art collectors is growing; there will be not halt to privately funded museums in the future. Join discussion...

Nora Weiser an art historian from Denver has created a company called BetterWall which takes old museum banners and turns them into works of art in the home. Each banner usually dipicts a famous work or series of works by artists that are being exhibited in the museum (most are bought from an aesthetic point of view). Each banner is collected from the museums after the exhibit in order to recycle them (most museums would just throw them in the trash). Weiser cleans each banner (they've been outside) and sells them to the public. So not only is she making a little more money on the side, Weiser is also helping the envirnment by keeping up to 15 tons of plastic fabric out of landfills since 2004. Join discussion...