The Barnes Collection and Urban Blight

I had the wonderful opportunity to see the Barnes exhibit in Philadelphia.  I was completely blown away by the breadth and range of this private collection that is now open to the public.   From Matisse to Picasso, Renoir and Van Gogh even collections of Chinese sculpture and Native American  jewelry.  The story behind bringing this private collection to the public was a very controversial story with politicos and other pitted against one another and is well documented in the documentary “The Art of the Steal.”    Matisse and Picasso are arguably my favorite artists and  the curating of the show is personally the best I have ever seen (the intent is to replicate how Barnes arranged the works in his own home) but the bigger story for me as the Barnes exhibit fuels money into the Philadelphia economy and I left the exhibit exhilarated by the experience and drove through West Philly, I was taken aback by the miles and miles of urban blight.  The dichotomy of  the beautiful works of art I had recently seen and the harsh reality of inner city  life is jarring,  The politicos who fought so hard to get the Barnes collection to be placed in Philly should fight so hard for the people who already live there.