It took environmental artist Christo 26 years to realize The Gates project in Central Park in New York City, so comparatively speaking, five months isn't a long time. But the clock is ticking for Vienna-based art marketeers Gisela Winkelhofer and Quirin Wimmer, who have been working since November to bring Christo to Prague. By the end of this month, they will either have the money to realize their project or they won't. End of story ... or the beginning.

"We want to bring international contemporary art to Prague, which is missing here," says Wimmer. "And if we succeed with this project, we would like to do it every year."

Wimmer and Winkelhofer have Christo and his companion Jeanne-Claude committed to an October visit, though not to mount one of their elaborate projects. "This is always the first question we get: 'What will they wrap in Prague?'" says Winkelhofer.

The answer is, nothing. Instead, they'll do two days of guest appearances and slide show lectures highlighting previous projects and previewing their latest work in progress, "Over the River," a fabric overhang along a stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado. In addition, a symposium is planned along with exhibitions at Kampa Museum and Palác Kinský, which will include a 6-meter-long model of the Pont Neuf, a bridge in Paris that they wrapped in 1985.

There's even a timely hook for the visit: Exactly 50 years ago this autumn, Christo stopped in Prague after leaving his native Bulgaria to make his way in the world, spending a couple months here before moving on to Austria.

"We have everything set: the dates for their visit confirmed, all the facilities reserved and a big media campaign," says Wimmer. "The framing is done — we are ready to go."

Except for the money, a small matter of half a million euros. For this, Wimmer and Winkelhofer need sponsors, preferably big-ticket corporate types who would get exclusive face time with the artists and like the idea of their company being associated with international art stars. So far, there have been no takers.

"We have talked to 30 companies here," says Wimmer. "They all say the same thing: 'It's amazing what you're doing — this is a good idea.' But they can't decide; they need approval from their headquarters abroad, or this isn't the right type of event for them."

This is Wimmer and Winkelhofer's first foray in the Czech Republic, or for that matter any former socialist country, where the idea of corporate sponsorships has not evolved very far beyond beer companies supporting sports events and rock concerts. There are notable exceptions in Prague: Komerční banka, for example, is a financial mainstay of the National Theater. But sponsorship money is meager for contemporary visual art.

"Getting support for the visual arts is a big problem in Prague," says Olga Dvořáková, who owns and operates Gallery Art Factory on Wenceslas Square. "Even getting people to come into the gallery is a problem. That's why we do an outdoor sculpture show every summer, so people literally have to bump into the art."

There's also the price tag on this particular event, which doesn't offer many of the perks a performing arts package does, like tickets to concerts. "Half a million euros may not sound like a lot for an ambitious project," says Kacha Kastner, a founder and co-owner of the hunt kastner artworks gallery. "But 15 million Kč [$628,000] does, especially when you consider that last year the Culture Ministry distributed 3.5 million Kč in grants for applied arts, the visual arts, design, arts and crafts and architecture — and that was for the whole country, for the whole year."

Wimmer and Winkelhofer are well aware of the struggles contemporary art faces here, and while they remain enthusiastic salespeople for their project, they have resigned themselves to the economic realities. "In the end, it's a hard financial calculation," says Wimmer. "We are ready to bring contemporary art of this level to Prague. If you want it, here it is. If not, we'll move on."

While there's no way to quantify what a visit by Christo and Jeanne-Claude would do for the city's image and reputation, it seems that the Golden City is on the verge of missing a golden opportunity.

"Prague needs this," says Dvořáková. "It doesn't deserve to be another Bangkok, a city of cheap beer and cheap girls. I was 100 percent sure people would recognize the value of this project. And I still can't believe they won't."