I received a call yesterday from someone with the increasingly infamous Third Church of Christ, Scientist (cue the photo of a large, concrete church). He wanted to make sure I knew that it was the church that wanted to destroy their own building.

I’m going to use an admittedly extreme example to make a point about art ownership. Someone who owns a Van Gogh could choose to destroy it. But only the most rights-obsessed among us would defend that decision. Art objects aren’t like most commodities. Sure, they are “owned,” but that ownership is temporary since the lifetimes of great objects far outstretch our own. That is, unless the temporary owner of an object destroys it. Then it’s gone.

A great art object is a gift that an artist gives to all humanity — not just to the person or institution or state that has bought it. That is why we display them in museums for all to see (and give a tax credit to those who donate them). And that is why we spend fortunes preserving and protecting them.

The church under discussion is no Van Gogh. Or Frank Lloyd Wright. But it is a structure that possesses unique artistic value greater than most every building for blocks around it.

I should know. I work a block away from the Third Church in the kind of unremarkable D.C. office building that occupies the lion’s share of space in the district. It is a tedious structure, devoid of any aesthetic appeal or interest. The architect who designed it brought the same level of artistic curiosity to the job that a steamroller brings to the task of flattening asphalt. Inevitably, more such buildings will be built. So don’t we want to consider hanging on to the smattering of structures that intrigue our eyes and make us talk?

In response to Jonah Goldberg, who I also remember fondly from our salad days at AEI, let me say that when I referenced the free market in describing the unstoppable nature of the real story of art I was trying to draw a parallel that I thought readers of this blog would appreciate. I know that most readers of NRO, like myself, believe completely in creativity and democratic power of the market.

But, at the same time, I do not think that the market should be the sole determiner of what we do with our built environment. If that were the case, we would have long ago converted The Mall into parking and the Capitol and White House into loft condominiums.

— Lynne Munson is former deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.