Arts institutions across Italy are struggling with a severe lack of funding after extensive budget cuts instituted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government, the New York Times reports.

With more than $1.3 billion cut from the culture ministry's budget for the next three years, museums, archaeological sites, opera houses, theaters, libraries, conservators, and filmmakers face an uncertain future. A petition posted by a labor union outside state cultural sites after cuts were announced in June warned, "Kind visitors, this could be one of the last times you are allowed to visit a museum, an archaeological area, an archive and a library."

Weak economic growth and strict European Union limits on government budget deficits have led countries across the E.U. to reduce public arts funding, but many Italians say the problem is particularly bad in their country. They argue that though the government boasts about Italy's cultural heritage, it fails to support or preserve it. In its most recent operating budget, the government allocated only 0.28 percent to the culture ministry.

"Certainly there's a lot of rhetoric about our cultural heritage, but when it comes to giving money to the ministry or to something else, politicians tend to choose the something else," said Stefano De Caro, director general for archaeology at the culture ministry.

Private sponsorship has long been debated as an option for filling some of the gap in public money, but Italian arts officials point out the lack of incentives for private companies to do so. Tax breaks are just beginning to be implemented for companies or individuals who finance arts programming or restoration, and they remain minimal, because tax evasion is so rampant that the government is not interested in giving back any of the money it raises.

An annual report published by Federculture, an umbrella organization for Italian groups involved in cultural and leisure activities, found that 73 percent of corporate donations in Italy went to sports — mostly soccer — this year. Roberto Grossi, Federculture's secretary general, explains that the benefits of sponsoring sports are more readily apparent: "You get a better return on your image. I don't know how many companies would be willing to invest in archaeological sites."

Recently Sandro Bondi, Italy's culture minister, pledged to bring in new administrators to state arts institutions and expressed his hope of boosting private investment in the arts.

Grossi echoed Bondi's sentiment that high quality management and services at arts sites were essential for attracting tourists. "It's no longer enough to have a great monument, or Capri, or a marble column," he said. He added, however, that the state owns too many cultural institutions to maintain them all.

This could mean that less visible sites will be passed over in favor of maintaining larger ones — a worry that plagues Vito Lattanzi, director of educational services and the Mediterranean collections at the Luigi Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography. As it is, "We barely have enough money to keep the lights on, or pay for a cleaning staff," he said.