Probably because you don't follow that field. The Las Vegas Art Museum closed in 2009, and the Seattle Art Museum had a 2 week closure/furlough this year.



I'm sure there are more, those are just two I'm familiar with.

GJC; the problem is simply a lack of appreciation (even comprehension) for history in this country; and until that is fixed; this will be an ongoing problem.

In the "hip hop culture"; there is something called the "Hip Hop Ten Commandments":

http://blackland.whgbetc.com/hiphopcommandments.html

Commandment VIII states in part that "Thou cannot have a sense of history. Never ever refer to any historical event that may cause the consumer to think about his/her relation to history." While most people have never heard of these "commandments," if that is part of the culture behind the music; it is bound to bleed through the songs themselves.

I think also that the education system is also somewhat to blame. History as taught in the schools now is boring; and engineers are no longer held in the high regard they were up to a couple or so decades ago. That lack of interest in history also affects their attitudes towards history and preservation of relics from that era.

Just because you don't have personal memories of something doesn't mean you don't appreciate it; just means we have to work harder to make it more interesting and relevant to visitors. The Europeans in general and the British in particular have a greater sense of history than we do; and industrial relics dating back to the 1700s and beyond are not uncommon.

And/or interest them while they are still young, and before they know everything; Thomas the Tank Engine has been very good for doing that very thing. It is very easy to turn entertainment into history by explaining to young viewers the actual engines behind the characters in Thomas, and what they did in real life. Many of the events that the Rev. Awdry originally wrote about, such as Thomas falling into a mine and James being spun on by the wind on turntable, happened in real life.

Oh, and it was announced this week that SETI will be closing due to lack of funds as well, unless the public steps in. You would think "the search for E.T." would have no problems drawing donations; but they too are in dire straits in these tough times.

[quote="Bobharbison"][quote="George Jackson Churchward"]
It's curious that we don't hear about art museums folding up because not enough young people appreciate Renoir, nor having to engage in wholesale shifts in their collecting for the sake of relevancy. [/quote]

Probably because you don't follow that field. The Las Vegas Art Museum closed in 2009, and the Seattle Art Museum had a 2 week closure/furlough this year.

[/quote]

That's rather presumptive of you, Bob. I didn't say that art museums don't close for any number of reasons, some having nothing to do with the popularity of their offerings. The institutions you mention were not, insofar as I am aware, among our greatest bastions of traditional art. Are you aware of wholesale deaccessions of notable collections of Pre-Raphaelites, Impressionists or whatever so as to raise funds to purchase items thought to appeal to teenage tastes? That's the analogy, or rather the apparent absence of one.

A dream (assuming I was the benevolent dictator of preservation with unlimited resources) would find her moved to San Francisco, her birth place (via specialized ship as noted earlier) and placing her in one of the granite graving docks at the Hunter's Point Naval yard... out of the water, in a historic, but now unused dry dock... an icon to a now lost heavy industrial history, and to San Francisco Bay as a Naval port...

Wasn't there another war ship that "should" have been displayed in the area but the SF city council angrily rejected?

They are all about peace over there you know. Peaceful people. No war...no decommisnoned war ships...none of it.

T7

Is this what our youth is subjected to, a total live in the now mentality,

at age 19 I began working with RMNE and friends, and still as a youth i dreamed of the day of grabbing a set of throttles and rolling down the tracks, we grow and change our priorities, but the preservation and education has not,

the ideas and dreams need to be instilled into the youth of america and try to push consumerism out of the way for real values for the itunes generation or the hip hop culture it becomes the biggest joke of who one is, "completely mindless"

let me just follow by saying not every youth needs to follow my lead but certainly follow there own lead, drug dealing and "lousy" music is not a culture "YET , I hope"

Public school systems in alot of our towns have issues a 100 hour community service requirement for a students graduation, however this is forced onto the students with some prejudice I am sure, and not that railroad preservation is a safe bet for young students due to some of its inherant dangers but it is a small jab at the overall problem,

the family and or parent that is at weekend baseball,soccer, track meet, has a child that is being parented and enjoying that aspect, when mommy and/or daddy is not partisapating in thier childs lives into their teenage years it is very easy for them to be misguided and turn onto the BS stated in 'HIP HOP COMMANMENTs", there needs to be more MOMMY AND DADY when it comes to THEIR Children

My Advise to the parents, you chose to have children, so stop acting like your children and RAISE them

"Nothing is completely safe. This weekend I was able to experience the full scale destruction of railroad equipment in Montana that was doomed by indifference and the apparent common quality that some viewed the artifacts to be." And what was scraped? This would be very relevant knowledge to put on this board.

The last quarter of the twenetieth century saw the street rod scene growing. But as the owners of the street rods, hot rods and antique cars in general are getting gray, their cars are finding less and less homes as the younger generation want to rod the ricers instead. So where do all of these old cars go? To scrap of course. It is inevitable that everything old gets recycled. Get used to it. It is the new norm.

I do not like it but it is reality. Just like taxes, I don't like them but it is reality.

Later!
Mr. Ed

It's a reality that needs to change if the railfan universe is to grow.

I'm not too worried about the future of railfanning:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=361737

Notice the average age of those guys.

"Wholesale deaccessions"? No, but then you don't have to sell a lot of Renoirs to raise significant funds.

Am I aware of old masters being sold to raise fund? Yes, of course.




http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/ ... -art-fair/

I'm not saying that it's a looming problem, but there will come a time where many people don't care about their history. That's why we all get so thrilled when we find something in a pyramid: because people didn't care enough. One day, some famous steamer, like 614 or 4449 will be found at a dig site, and end up on display at some ancient american history museum.

One bald spot, no backwards baseball caps.

Not good enough. >;-)

[quote="survivingworldsteam"]In the "hip hop culture"; there is something called the "Hip Hop Ten Commandments":

http://blackland.whgbetc.com/hiphopcommandments.html

Commandment VIII states in part that "Thou cannot have a sense of history. Never ever refer to any historical event that may cause the consumer to think about his/her relation to history."quote]

James, if there's no sense of history it really can't be considered a culture at all. The only cultures with no sense of history are bacterial.

dave