Buffalo's
Albright-Knox Art Gallery faces a
revolt over the planned sale of pieces from its collection of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art. (Sotheby's image via NYT)
The museum needs money to buy the contemporary art that has come to define its mission -- at least its mission as understood
by the professional staff and governing board. People in the community, including members of the museum, want to keep the pieces, and have filed suit to stop the sale.
The good news is that people are so impassioned about the art, and the institution, and the place of both in the city.
I don't know the details, and sometimes there is no going back when a fight goes public, but maybe there is a way to leverage
this sense of ownership and investment by the community in a way that satisfies everyone. (Doug Dreishpoon, a former curator
at the Weatherspoon Museum, is a senior curator at the Albright-Knox, but I haven't spoken to him about this situation.)