In the Arts: Amazon Chief Gives $10-Million to Seattle History Museum

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has donated $10-million to develop a “Center of Innovation” at Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry, The Seattle Times writes.

The gift is the largest in the 59-year history of the museum, which will move late next year to a new location close to Amazon’s headquarters.

Mr. Bezos, who started Amazon from his garage in nearby Bellevue, Wash., said the center will focus on the “extraordinary organizations founded in Seattle,” such as Microsoft, Boeing, Costco, and UPS.

“These companies and their innovations have had a big impact on Seattle, the country, and the world,” he said.

In other arts news, a major Dutch museum plans to put wide swaths of its collection on the market to cover costs as the country’s government cuts cultural subsidies, Reuters reports.

The director of the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam said its Africa collection, one of the oldest in Europe, and its holdings from the Americas will be sold as part of the institution’s effort to become financially self-sufficient.

The Dutch government plans to cut arts subsidies from about $1.3-billion to $1-billion a year starting in 2013 and will require museums to secure 17.5 percent of their income from new sources.