Another Philadelphia Art Controversy

This one involves the public school system. Seems that, over the years, a number of schools had acquired some quite valuable artworks, including an Eakins found in a boiler room. Three years ago the Philadelphia School District gathered up about 1,200 artworks from more than 260 schools. One appraisal put the value of the collection at $30 million. The works have all been in storage since 2003, "but now that the School Reform Commission is struggling to resolve a $73.3 million budget deficit, art experts, along with members of various school communities, are worried that district officials could be tempted to sell the artworks." Full story in the Philadelphia Daily News here. Earlier story, from 2003, in the Washington Post here.