Baryn Futa feels strongly that fine art is a necessary and defining part of any culture. In fact, from his perspective, the arts are an important enough cultural signature to make them worth preserving them for future generations. In a very real way, the art of the past puts us in touch with our ancestors in a way that nothing else can, and we owe it to our descendants to preserve as much of that as possible for the future. From that point of view, art collections and art museums are extremely important.

Of course, Baryn Futa didn’t always have a deep appreciation for the arts; in reality, he was a late bloomer. When he retired and began working with the Denver Art Museum, he began to truly appreciate the importance of art to the aesthetic and possibly even the soul of the culture. Perhaps no one was more surprised than Baryn to feel such a strong and profound attraction to the arts and the art world. That is why he used his time at the DAM to cultivate his love of the arts and art history by attending art fairs and museum exhibitions and anything else he could find. He also attended numerous arts classes and started his own art collection, which has grown to be very extensive and impressive.

Whereas everyone appreciates the arts on some level, not everyone is in a position to support the arts to the extent that is needed, which is why Baryn Futa feels like a lucky man. That is also why he works so hard to pick up the slack and take on as much of the responsibility that he can to promote art preservation in every way he can.