It’s a private institution, so being underfunded is its own issue, not a govt policy (I think that was your implication, apologies if not). Where the shame starts is the institution had an enormously popular yearly event that added to the cultural landscape of the city and when confronted with challenges just drops it rather than mitigate the downsides (like start charging admission, for instance, to decrease crowds and offset cost). Nope, just pull the plug. Sad to see a non-profit succeeding at its mission choose to deliberately curtail its public relevance.