Dispossession by attrition is a permanent condition

[sovay]

FUCKING BERNIE MADOFF.

I suppose I should be glad an art museum is more readily sacrificed than a classics department? (I suspect it's easier to sell off paintings than professors.) Presidential reassurance notwithstanding, I find it hard to believe it's merely a sign of the times: "The global financial crisis and deepening national economic recession require Brandeis to formulate and execute decisive plans that will position the university to emerge stronger for the benefit of our students . . ." Oh, damn it, damn it. I should have gone to their surrealist exhibition in November. Art is meant to be cherished, not flung to the winds. Where do I protest? Maybe I can paint it on a wall.

Comments

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

BLOODY HELL! yikes. I'm sorry...

I /think/ Williams is riding out the storm a little better (this is the one advantage to having so many finance people among the alumni)
I'm now wondering whether THEY'LL buy part of the collection.

[sovay]

(this is the one advantage to having so many finance people among the alumni)

Dude, seriously, if there were an international Jewish conspiracy to control the world's finances, don't you think Yeshiva University would have gotten a lot less ripped off?

I'm now wondering whether THEY'LL buy part of the collection.

I'll come and visit the Chagalls in exile . . .

(I don't want them to be in exile. It isn't the possession on campus: it's that you don't break up a museum. I would not be Stephanie Meyer for all the sparkles in Washington, but I would not mind her money. How much does it suck that Madoff also kneecapped charities and philanthropists?)

[gaudynight78.livejournal.com]

It has much less to do with the preponderance of finance people among the alumni (Williams alums have been hit HARD by this meltdown - freaking LEHMAN BROTHERS CLOSED!) and much more to do with the fact that Jewish institutions in particular had invested heavily with Bernie Madoff, and lost their shirts. Williams was much more normally diversified.

Also? Brandeis' endowment in January 2008 = $700 million. Williams' endowment in January 2008 = more than three times that.

It does seem weird, though, to sell off whole freaking MUSEUM to close a $10M hole in the annual operating budget.

The romantic part of me wants to see the other umpteen institutions of art in the greater Boston area band together and "buy" parts of the Brandeis collection but arrange to leave them in situ.

[sovay]

and much more to do with the fact that Jewish institutions in particular had invested heavily with Bernie Madoff, and lost their shirts.

It's kind of unprecedented. And of course the donors and foundations whom Brandeis could normally ask for help are people like Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro, who have lost more money than I will ever see in my lifetime.

It does seem weird, though, to sell off whole freaking MUSEUM to close a $10M hole in the annual operating budget.

Yes; I can't believe it's a $10 million hole. What worries me is the thought that the university's financial situation is much worse than anyone's saying, and—I know, brainwave—I'm not sure how you fix a problem if you don't mention to anyone that it exists.

The romantic part of me wants to see the other umpteen institutions of art in the greater Boston area band together and "buy" parts of the Brandeis collection but arrange to leave them in situ.

I could definitely live with that. I wonder how you contact the MFA and ask.

[sovay]

It does seem weird, though, to sell off whole freaking MUSEUM to close a $10M hole in the annual operating budget.

Does this answer your question?