"They are supporting museums and the whole system that makes it all work.
Harding said that since his company had been very successful at using mathematical ideas he was "in the lucky position to be able to indulge in my expensive hobby" of supporting museums.
Soon, other groups on campus, like the Center for African Studies and the Latin American studies program, began contributing money to support museum programming.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is moving forward with his pledge to develop "decency standards" for the kind of art that can be shown in New York City's publicly supported museum exhibits.
The main campus supports museums of anthropology, art, natural history, and entomology and two herbariums.
The mayor's argument is that the public should not have to support museums that display art deemed offensive.
"Something like ninety-nine per cent of all collectors — the rich, those who are interested and will support museums in the future — are collectors of contemporary art," he said.
Hunched over architectural renderings of the new center, Loraine Knowles, Stonehenge's project director, said she was disappointed that the government had withdrawn money while continuing to support museums in London, like the Tate and the British Museum.
The 19th-century Gypsy Wagon in the collection of the Museums at Stony Brook is about to be refurbished with the help of a $37,949 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that supports museums and libraries.
Adding to the vandalism, the budget would eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports museums and libraries all across the country.
ALSO: Facebook users respond to death of battered Palmdale boy, 8 State Assembly OKs Snoopy license plates bill to support museums Michael Jackson lost $26 million on HIStory tour's 1st leg, exec says Twitter: @DanielJosephWei [email protected] .
