Exposure to the finest art of the finest artists works improving, character-building wonders in us. Perhaps, then, exposure to the fine arts should either be made compulsory or should at least be strongly incentivised by governments.

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I am a better, vastly improved man, less ignorant about and more sensitised to First Australians, after my visit on Tuesday to the National Gallery of Australia's major exhibition Emily Kam Kngwarray.

A quietly knowledgeable NGA mover and shaker led my small party from bedazzling room to bedazzling room of Emily Kam Kngwarray's paintings, textiles and works on paper drawn from international and national collections. All of us were changed by what we saw and by what we learned. We were awed.

It is just not good enough that only the usual sorts of gallery-going Canberrans will see shows like this. Every citizen has a duty, for the general good of society, to improve himself or herself by being awed by the arts at their most awesome.

What if, then, being able to provide proof (a ticket, say, or an appropriate selfie) that one has been to a major exhibition made one eligible for some major government concessions, for free public transport, say, for reductions in rates or in motor registration fees?

What if (you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm........

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