More reaction to the Future of the Rose Committee report.
The NYT's Randy Kennedy pulls out some choice bits, including:
"The committee ... added that [the Rose], 'like many of its fellow university museums, has been oriented too much towards the art world, and not enough towards the academy' and should become more integrated into the university’s educational mission"; and
"As for selling the works, the group wrote that it assumed that whatever decision the university made regarding such sales, there would 'remain a substantial collection of art to be preserved and made available for research, study, and cultivation.'"
Time's Richard Lacayo: "You have to wonder whether the recent upswing in the stock market — if it continues — may make the whole problem go away. Brandeis first announced the museum closing in late January, when the Dow was bobbling around in the 7000s .... This month it's nudging 10,000 again. ... Meanwhile the art market is still not exactly robust, so it remains a poor time to sell. Maybe everybody should just take a deep breath and wait to see whether and by how much the market continues to improve."
And the LAT's Christopher Knight: "The university's administration had long since backtracked on quick implementation of the cataclysmic scheme, approved by trustees last January following a precipitous drop in the school's endowment funds. ... Now, the Brandeis administration's handpicked committee charged with thinking hard about the future of the Rose has essentially put the backtrack in writing. Imagine my surprise."
