It was announced yesterday that Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, is planning to close its Rose Art Museum and sell its 6,000-object collection. The Rose Art Museum was founded in 1961; a new wing designed by celebrated architect Graham Gund was added in 2001. The Boston Globe reports: “Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz said yesterday that the university had no other choice. The university’s endowment had suffered in the economic meltdown, and Reinharz said he anticipated further fallout from the Bernard Madoff scandal, in which several longtime Brandeis donors have lost money.” The Globe article also notes that money from the sale of the art will be reinvested in the university. Brandeis has said the museum will close late this summer.
More information and additional links can be found in this Boston Globe article, on Artforum, the Modern Art Notes blog, and others.
This article at Inside Higher Ed provides a perspective from the university community.
A petition opposing the decision to close the Rose Art Museum – created by Brandeis alumni – is available to sign here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/in-opposition-to-the-closing-of-the-rose-art-museum
Don’t see why everybody has missed the positive aspects of the closing of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis ….
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/brandeis-liberal-arts-without-the-art/
Seriously, this must have been done to provoke outrage — and new funding.
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