Here’s $2,500. Now May We Have The Horse?

The Smithsonian Institution is willing to lend smaller museums its objects, and its prestige, for a price. “In exchange for a $2,500 annual fee, museums may become Smithsonian ‘affiliates’ and borrow artifacts. Some are less important items. Some are icons. Some go out on a short-term basis. Some, long-term. Now 146 museums and cultural organizations are part of the program, called Smithsonian Affiliations. The latest is the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Ky., which has its eye on a famous stuffed steed from the Civil War.”