4 The Hoot
NEWS
October 16, 2009
Museum book celebrates Rose history and paintings ROSE BOOK (from p. 1)
PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot
Rose prepares to showcase permanent collection while legal battle continues EXHIBIT (from p. 1)
and it doesn’t affect the exhibit.” Dawes stood on the upper floor of The Rose gallery, looking into the Foster gallery, overseeing his preparateur team, surrounded by paintings leaning up against blank walls and waiting for the paintings to be hung. He was waiting to hang the paintings--including a Warhol and a Chagall, among others -until next week, when Adelina Jedrzejczak, co-curator of the exhibit would arrive from London and help finalize the list of art to be shown. The exhibit, which opens on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m, will be divided into six sections, similar to the six chapters of the recently released The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis, a catalogue of the museum’s permanent collection. Though it is proceeding with its exhibit, the museum has not been
unchanged by the legal battle that looms over the future of its collection this summer. As Dawes walked down the stairs to the lower floor of the Rose Gallery where the museum will showcase its vast photography collection, he looked at the wall. “We were thinking of making this a timeline of the history of the museum and the collection so people knew where all this great art came from,” he said, “but then we’d have to get into the whole controversy, so I don’t know about that.” This exhibit is the first time that all three galleries of the museum will be used to exhibit only pieces from the permanent collection -in part because the university has ordered it to do so, but also because “this collection doesn’t get shown enough.” “There’s a lot of curiosity about what we have here,” Dawes said.
In addition, while the museum typically has three exhibits per year, the exhibition of the permanent collection will last through May, though Dawes said he will rotate the artwork in the exhibit so as to encourage “multiple visits.” The staff has also been severely cut (Dawes himself only began running the museum this summer, after former Director Michael Rush’s contract ran up in June and was not renewed), and the museum now survives on two full time staff members, and one part time staff member, along with up to 20 students who work both in the museum office and as guides once a week. Dawes also has hired a preparateur staff of four to help set up the exhibit. “It’s been challenging to get everything and everyone up and running again,” Dawes said. “But we’re just putting together an exhibit like we always do.”
Judge denies dismissal, issues injunction General’s office that it would investigate the university’s decithe university on July 27 in order sion to sell art, the plaintiffs reto prevent the university from vised their motion. closing the museum and selling Tensions were high in Court its art as a means of alleviating its Room 1 before the hearing and budget shortfall. during a 30 minute recess. “There are personal rights the Of the 13 people who attended plaintiffs have that may or may the hearing, not including attornot be successful, but they do neys, all have standbut two ing,” Stahlin sat besaid. hind the Stahlin plainagreed with t i f f ’s the defense, lawyer. which arAt the gued the motion plaintiffs hearing, had no right Brandeis to file a suit counin the pub- Tom Reilly, Brandeis Counsel sel Tom lic interest, Reilly as that is accused under the t h e jurisdiction of the Attorney Gen- plaintiffs of suing because “they eral’s office. just don’t like the way [the muThe plaintiffs had originally seum] is being run.” filed a motion for a preliminary Reilly urged Stahlin to consider injunction preventing the sale the Rose as “just another academof the entire collection of the ic department” within the univermuseum, but following an an- sity that answers to the Provost. nouncement by the Attorney “If this were the philosophy MOTION (from p. 1)
If this were the philosophy department instead of an art museum and they wanted to run it independently, you would have to dismiss the case.
department instead of an art museum and they wanted to run it independently, you would have to dismiss the case,” Reilly said. Counsel for the plaintiffs Terry Dangel countered that argument, saying “this is not just another department. This is a museum.” Reilly also told the court that “those items [given by the plaintiffs] are just not going to be sold.” “Other items, when that day comes, we’ll make sure to tell [the attorney general’s office],” he said. Stahlin set a trial date for June 29 at 11 a.m.. Between now and the trial date, each legal team will move into the “discovery” part of the legal process in which both sides are required to disclose documents pertinent to the suit, regardless of whether the documents help or hurt their case. Reilly indicated yesterday that he would want to limit the scope of discovery to documents pertaining only to gifts given by the three plaintiffs, and Stahlin set a scope of discovery hearing for Dec. 2 at 3 p.m.
calls “a compelling new vision for how The Rose could be greater if it collaborated with the academic aspects of the university.” The report recommends that academic departments collaborate with the museum when it is planning its shows in order to produce exhibits that are relevant to current coursework. In the book “The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis,” descriptions of paintings show that the museum does have a history of collaboration with the university. Many of the artists whose paintings are included in the book showed their work at the museum multiple times, and some artists have cultivated relationships with other aspects of the university. Helen Frankenthaler, for example, was awarded an honorary degree by the university. The report also suggests that at least one of the museum’s three galleries show from the museum’s permanent collection at all times, and recommends that the university hire a full time curator and director for the museum. The report avoided the issue of whether the university should sell pieces of artwork from the museum in order to offset the university’s current financial crisis, saying that decision lies solely with the Board of Trustees. “This is just a recommendation committee. It does not have the authority to make any of this happen,” Krauss said. The Board has yet to make a decision about the sale of artwork because the threat of sale prompted three of the museum’s Board of Overseers to sue the university in late July. A hearing for two motions in the case—one filed by the university to dismiss, and the other filed by the plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction—was held on Tuesday in Suffolk Probate Court. At the motion, Associate Justice
Jeremy Stahlin denied the motion to dismiss and ordered a preliminary injunction that prevents the university from selling up to 500 of the 7,183 works of art in the museum. Also at the hearing, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office announced the opening of a civil investigation into the university’s decision to sell art from the museum, and announced the university would be required to give the Attorney General’s office 30 days notice before it sells any work of art from the museum. Stahlin’s decision and the Attorney General’s announcement very well may be part of the discussion at the university Board of Trustee’s Oct. 28 meeting, in which they could discuss the sale of artwork from the museum. Krauss also said the Board would discuss which of the recommendations for the Committee for the Future of the Rose to implement at that meeting. On that same day, The Rose Art Museum will open an exhibit from its permanent collection, and hold a party for the official release of the book. Director of Museum Operations Roy Dawes said the set up of the exhibition is directly related to the book—the galleries will be divided in the same categories as the chapters of the book to “follow the catalogue.” “The exhibit is meant to be a celebration of the catalogue that is in turn a celebration of the collection,” Dawes said. Betsy Pfau, a member of the museum’s Board of Overseers and the Committee for the Future of The Rose Art Museum, said she hopes that the book will serve as “a reminder of how great the collection is, for better or for worse.” “We just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that the book will serve as a rallying cry,” she said, “not a death knell.”
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