Artist Hides $12K Check in Gallery

This is one way to fund the arts. A British artist has hidden a check in the amount of about $12,600 in an art gallery in the town of Milton Keynes, with the "To" line blank. Find it by March 1, and your name will be inserted, reports the Telegraph. Tomas Georgeson hopes that the treasure hunt will spur interest in the town's art scene. His work isn't currently on exhibit in the 3,200-square-foot Milton Keynes Gallery, and he says his intention wasn't to step on the toes of the artists who are showing there (he notes that the check isn't hidden on, behind, or in any displayed piece).

But with statements like these—he says once the check is cashed he'll essentially be broke—it's tough to imagine that won't happen. It was also a sort of maverick move. Georgeson, who the Milton Keyes Citizen reports used to volunteer for the gallery, says he didn't tell the gallery he was tucking a check into one of its nooks. A rep says several employees "have made a careful search of the gallery’s public spaces and found no trace of a blank check." As such, "we can't confirm or deny whether it's a hoax," notes the Independent. (More art stories.)