Monday, June 16, 2008

Sunday in the Park with Dale 1: The Line



A huge exhibit of Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures opened this weekend at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park...



...and through the sponsorship of Target stores, the great unwashed masses were invited to attend the show for free on Saturday and Sunday.



This led to long lines first thing in the morning to secure up to four timed entry tickets to the exhibit.



Since the institution is funded with millions of dollars in local taxpayer money, it seems odd that there aren't more weekend events, such as the Asian Art Museum's new Free First Sundays...



...but the place is still clinging to its free admission on the first Tuesday of the month policy, and to hell with working families.



What was really insulting was being asked by over a dozen employees wandering the queue whether or not we wanted to become a member of the museum. "You won't have to stand in this line," they added as an inducement, and by the twentieth time this happened, I was ready to offer a very rude reply.



If you didn't show up early in the morning for tickets, by the way, the timed admissions were soon "sold out."

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