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Philadelphia- After two years of legal battle, the Barnes Foundation has been granted permission to move its art collection from its current home in Merion to a new site on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Judge Stanley Ott of the Montgomery County Orphans’ Court ruled that relocation was the best option for saving the Barnes from financial downfall. Mayor Street followed the announcement of the decision with news that the Barnes will relocate to the current site of the Youth Study Center, a juvenile detention center on the Parkway between 20th and 21st Streets. The Youth Study Center will be demolished by the end of 2005, in order to begin construction on the new Barnes facility.
“This landmark decision is a once in a life time opportunity to preserve a priceless collection of art, making it accessible to the wider public while providing the educational programs and accessibility that were at the heart of the institutions original charter,” said Peggy Amsterdam, President of the Cultural Alliance. “However, any plans must be supported by prudent projections and careful planning to ensure that Barnes legacy can continue to be a treasure for generations to come.”
The Barnes will be located in the heart of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, next to the Central Library of Philadelphia, currently planning its own $130 million dollar renovation set to break ground in 2006. Other cultural institutions on the Parkway include the Rodin Museum, the planned Calder Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute, and the Academy of Natural Sciences.
“Judge Ott’s ruling provides the best prospect for the Barnes Foundation’s long term viability and may prove to be the catalyst needed to re-envision the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as one of the world’s great cultural Meccas.” Peggy Amsterdam recently stated, after the announcement by Mayor Street that the city would donate the planned site location at 20th and the Parkway.
Currently located outside Philadelphia in Lower Merion, The Barnes Foundation houses an extraordinary number of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, including 181 works by Renoir, 69 by Cézanne, 60 by Matisse and others by Picasso, Modigliani, Monet, Manet, Degas and others. The collection of more than 2,000 pieces is valued in excess of $6 billion. In December 1922, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered The Barnes Foundation as a nonprofit educational institution. Established and initially endowed by Dr. Albert Coombs Barnes, the Foundation's mission, as stated by its By-Laws is to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts" as well as the maintenance of an arboretum.
Interview Opportunities
To schedule a live or phone interview with Peggy Amsterdam about this issue, please contact John McInerney at (215) 557-7811x15 or jmcinerney@philaculture.org
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is a leadership organization of over 290 nonprofit arts and cultural institutions located primarily in the five counties of southeastern Pennsylvania. The mission of the Cultural Alliance is to lead the effort to increase awareness of, participation in and support for arts and culture in the Greater Philadelphia region.
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