Opinion before research

Been thinking about the history of the arts in Columbus. When you compare it to Cleveland and Toledo, there was a lot of industrial and corporate investment in the arts in those cities in the late 19th, early 20th centuries. Columbus did not have any of that. Sure, there was industry, but there did not seem to be any philanthropic efforts (Buckeye Steel, Bush family, nothing as far as I can tell). Sure, CMA did have some wealthy investment to get started, but it was nothing like the other cities. The Cleveland Art Museum's endowment is the fourth largest in the country. It's taken decades for Columbus to try and catch up.

I would not be surprised to see a more in depth essay about this before summer's up. Because that's what happens to me. I get the kernel, others get the pop.