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How $500 Lamps Are Keeping a New York Museum Afloat During Covid
Demand from home-bound buyers for Akari lanterns jumped during Covid, helping the Noguchi museum keep all its staff and preserve salaries.
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The warm light glows through handmade washi paper, the ephemeral shapes held just so by bamboo.
Almost 70 years after the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi designed the first of his iconic Akari light sculptures, the lamps have become the unexpected savior of a small museum in Queens that bears his name.