The Speed Art Museum in Louisville just completed a $60M renovation which they funded through local giving; an encouraging tale for small-town museums.

"Conventional wisdom suggests that these are trying times for small-town arts organizations.

"After all, the money's usually concentrated in the big cities. And where there's money, there's talent—a recent report from the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland suggests that big city organizations tend to poach professional expertise, including dancers and directors, from smaller regions. Then there's the issue of evaporating gifts, compounded by an uneven economic recovery and ongoing turbulence in the stock market.

"News out of Louisville, however, suggests a refreshing alternative to this narrative."--Mike Scutari, Inside Philanthropy