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 The alma mater of conductor Kaye George Roberts (class of 1971, the first African-American woman to complete the orchestral conducting program at Yale University) and musicologists John Work (Sr., Jr. and III) is in trouble. (Read the article below) Reports confirm that Fisk University , founded in 1866, is experiencing many financial difficulties. Fisk is the birth place of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, “the first historic tour established a reputation for excellence in musical performance and preserved the rich heritage of the Negro Spiritual.”
The music department employs full-time faculty for brass, organ, piano, voice and woodwinds. It has an unwavering history of providing students with conservatory-style training in addition to African-American training in traditional music. Other outstanding alums include Dr. Joyce Bolden (class of 1953), who became the first African-American woman to serve on the Commission for Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music. Please support this Historically Black University. DONATE Judge Strikes Down $30 Million Deal Between Fisk University, Crystal Bridges Museum (2/14/08)
A Tennessee judge has ruled against a proposed $30 million deal between Nashville-based Fisk University and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that would have brought a 101-piece art collection to the museum, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
Under the proposal, the museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, would have split ownership of the collection with the financially troubled university, financed transport of the collection between locations, and created an internship program for Fisk students. The collection was donated to the historically black university by the artist Georgia O'Keeffe in 1949 on the conditions that it be kept intact, on display, and never sold. In 2005, Fisk sought to sell the most important paintings from the collection -- O'Keeffe's Radiator Building - Night, New York and Marsden Hartley's Painting No. 3 -- to help bolster its depleted finances.
Tennessee law requires a judge's approval of any plans to alter the conditions of a public gift. According to a court filing, the university could lose its accreditation if the deal with Crystal Bridges is denied. The university could also miss out on a $1 million gift from Crystal Bridges founder and Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, who agreed to donate the money to Fisk to renovate its gallery space after the deal was approved. While it is unclear whether the donation will be made, Crystal Bridges executive director Bob Workman said the internship program will continue regardless of the legal outcome.
The Santa Fe-based Georgia O'Keeffe Museum has challenged Fisk's efforts to sell the artwork since 2006 and claims to be the lawful beneficiary of the painter's estate. The museum's lawyers argue that Fisk is violating O'Keeffe's wishes because the art- work -- which was put in storage in 2005 after the university's gallery had fallen into disrepair -- isn't being displayed. A February 19 trial will examine whether the entire collection
should revert to the O'Keeffe Museum.
Lenny Campelo, a contributor to National Public Radio and an art blogger, said moving the collection to Santa Fe would be a loss to the Southeast. "It's a loss not only in a sense of the paintings, but it's also denying O'Keeffe's own wishes [of having the works available]."
O'Toole, Diana. "Denial of Fisk Proposal Frustrates Area Art Lovers." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 2/10/08.
Now Fisk knew they couldn't sell those paintings but they were desperate enough to try. That's sad. |
