Cultural boards

Interesting article from NY Times.

"Looking to join the power set at the Met? Be ready with a check for as much as $10 million. The price of admission can reach that high at the MOMA, and remains roughly $5 million at the NYPL, according to people involved in the process. Yet even with weakened portfolios, many people of means remain willing to answer the call because a spot on a cultural board is among the most coveted prizes in a city of strivers and mega-achievers. And spots are limited: the NY City Ballet, for example, has 40 voting members; the Museum of Natural History has 56. The rewards of service are many: social status, the personal satisfaction of doing good, the chance to rub shoulders with Rockefellers and Lauders, and a say in setting the intellectual course of the nation, if not the world, through a leading museum or performing arts institution. “Give, get or get off,” is a motto many in the cultural world know well. Trustees who cannot donate from their personal funds are expected to raise an equivalent amount from others or, in the case of museums, perhaps help the institution acquire art that has long been sought for its collection."