Artful dodger
Shame on Alex Hanson for commenting on the nexus between individuals earning vast wealth from financial markets and then establishing non-profit institutions to show off their art collections (Post-Modern Irony in a Vermont Tax Shelter, Aug. 5).
And kudos to Andy Hall, the commodities trader behind the Hall Foundation, for having the courage to point out that he could be much wealthier were he not funding his foundation (Hall Art Foundation is More Than a Tax Shelter, Aug. 8).
The public benefit from creating a non-profit art gallery in bustling Reading, Vermont (population 650) with scant advertising to fly below the radar and holding appreciating assets exempt from federal and state estate taxes is indisputable. I just hope that the added publicity from these dueling commentaries does not result in more people visiting the gallery and disturbing the surrounding peace and quiet.