The report avoided the issue of whether or not the university should sell pieces of artwork from the museum in order to aid in the university’s current financial crisis, the threat of which prompted three of the museum’s Board of Overseers to sue the university in late July.
“We do not know whether the university will sell artwork for general budget relief,” the report reads.
The report continued to underscore the fact that recommendations pertaining to the sale of art are not a part of the committee’s charge, and the power to decide the fate of the artwork lies solely in the hands of the university Board of Trustees.
“The main goal of the report is to provide a blueprint for making the Rose a stronger institution that can play a more integral role in the broader academic life of the university,” Chair of the Future of the Rose Committee Professor Jerry Samet (PHIL) wrote in an e-mail message to The Hoot.
The committee’s report recommended that the Rose become more integrated into the university by exhibiting student art, having more open communication with the university’s art history department, and by having more exhibits from the museum’s permanent collection.
“A lot of people are dying to see our permanent collection,” Krauss said. “They will be blown away by what we have hidden in that museum, but they have never seen because we’ve never shown it to them.”
The Museum will open an exhibit of its permanent collection on Oct. 28.
The committee’s report urged Krauss to add more staff members to the Rose, including the position of Director and Curator. Krauss came under fire from members of the Rose’s Board of Overseers in April when she announced an interim state of the museum, which did not include the staff positions of Director and Curator.
The report also calls for a “reconstitution” of the museum’s board of overseers. Krauss denied in an interview that this “reconstitution” was in any way related to the fact that three members of the museum’s Board of Operators have filed a lawsuit against the university in an attempt to stop any potential sale of artwork.
The Board will review the committee’s report at their regularly scheduled meeting next week.
