AT&T’s announcement that it would sponsor a new arts center in Dallas is raising a lot of criticism in the arts world.

This week the company announced it would support the center, to be renamed the AT&T Performing Arts Center, reports The Dallas Morning News. But Mark Nerenhausen, chief executive of the center, declined to tell the newspaper how much the company was giving.

Judith H. Dobrzynski, a blog writer for Arts Journal, questions the decision to keep it quiet.

“How are people going to judge whether this is a fair deal or whether AT&T bargained too hard?” she asks. “And how are AT&T shareholders going to know whether they’re getting their money’s worth?”

Another blog author speculates that the telecommunications corporation does not want to appear like it is flaunting a big donation during a recession.

“One insider tells us the reticence is not surprising, given the current business and fund-raising climate. Even when they’re ‘doing good,’ companies fear being viewed as extravagant in any way these days. So in this case, AT&T probably figures the less said, the better,” says Glenn Hunter, who writes a blog for D Magazine, a Dallas publication.

What do you think? Should the contribution be made public?