The huffing and puffing over the Rose Art Museum brouhaha continues - but some possible clarity (and a little accounting expertise) has been brought to the matter by Felix Salmon over at Portfolio.com. Long story short: he doesn't think Brandeis's situation is catastrophic, and the Board is closing the Rose merely to avoid de-accessioning rules (which apparently only apply to open museums; go figure). Once they have sold enough art to cover their operating expenses, Brandeis will be left with an arts center and a collection almost as big as it had to begin with. It's a plausible theory; somehow I still find it hard to believe the Brandeis Board could have been stupid enough to stumble into this imbroglio over a $10 million gap in their operating budget. But it's possible!
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Brandeis mess explained?
The huffing and puffing over the Rose Art Museum brouhaha continues - but some possible clarity (and a little accounting expertise) has been brought to the matter by Felix Salmon over at Portfolio.com. Long story short: he doesn't think Brandeis's situation is catastrophic, and the Board is closing the Rose merely to avoid de-accessioning rules (which apparently only apply to open museums; go figure). Once they have sold enough art to cover their operating expenses, Brandeis will be left with an arts center and a collection almost as big as it had to begin with. It's a plausible theory; somehow I still find it hard to believe the Brandeis Board could have been stupid enough to stumble into this imbroglio over a $10 million gap in their operating budget. But it's possible!
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