The Fight Continues to Keep the Barnes in Lower Merion!"It's not too late to make a U-turn," ..."The county would lose its most significant cultural asset and one of its most significant educational, economic and historical assets if the relocation is allowed", Montgomery County Deputy Solicitor Carolyn Carluccio said.From the Barnes Foundation website:
"The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts." Located in a twelve-acre arboretum, the Foundation is home to one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Modigliani, as well as important examples of African sculpture. The Gallery and Arboretum are open to the public ( reservations are required), and courses in aesthetics and horticulture are available through the education department."On Monday, opponents of the move told Ott that a new township ordinance would allow more visitors and that a county-backed $50 million purchase-lease back arrangement would give the Barnes a massive infusion of cash. They also said the Barnes building is eligible for National Historic Landmark status, opening up a possible source of federal funding.
Attorneys for the foundation and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, which has jurisdiction over the executors of wills, told Ott the county's financial proposal is far from guaranteed and the opponents' ideas are too little, too late.
There is a real opportunity to keep "The Barnes" here in Montgomery County, where it's always been and where Albert C. Barnes himself said shall "remain in exactly the places they are" after his death.
More on this in todays Bulletin.
B.
1 comment:
I like your stuff Bill but I think you are wrong. Lower Merion has never been a fan of the Barnes. Area residents have crapped all over this organization for years (I'll let others debate the resons why.) Now that they are on the verge of losing it, they have found some new love of the Barnes and want to save it. Not buying it.
So of course, the solution is not for LMT residents to put their big bucks together and help the Barnes, a solution which they could have put into place for years. The solution is to have all the residents of Montgomery County put up all the money and get into the museum business.
Sorry. Private foundations have beaten everyone there and offered serious money on the condition that the art should be accessible to all in the city.
Let the Barnes go and let Lower Merion have the peace and quiet that it has sought for so many years. Now that I don't have to plan a visit six months in advance, I might even get a chance to see the Barnes.
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