The Metropolitan Opera is in financial crisis, and now it may sacrifice two of New York City’s most beloved cultural treasures to stay afloat.

The Met has floated the idea of selling its two iconic Marc Chagall murals, which have greeted opera-goers at Lincoln Center for generations. These towering works of art, The Triumph of Music and The Sources of Music, are more than just paintings. They are part of the soul of the Met and of New York itself.

Selling them, even with conditions to keep them in place, would be a dangerous step toward privatizing what has always been public. Once these murals are for sale, the door is open to treating priceless cultural heritage as just another asset on a balance sheet. What gets sold next?

We understand the Met Opera is facing immense pressure. The pandemic devastated the performing arts, and leadership is scrambling to plug major budget gaps. But turning to the art on the walls as a last resort is not the solution. It is a betrayal of the trust that generations of New Yorkers and art lovers have placed in this institution.

These murals were created by Marc Chagall as a gift to future audiences, celebrating the beauty and power of music. Their value is not just financial. It is emotional, historical, and cultural.

We urge the leadership of the Met Opera to make a clear and permanent commitment: the Chagall murals will never be sold.

And we call on New York City’s cultural affairs leadership and elected officials to step in and help protect these public treasures from private ownership, no matter how “symbolic” the sale.

Some things are worth more than money. These murals belong to all of us. Let’s keep them where they are, untouched, unowned, and open to the public.