Friends and colleagues,  
  
Word was received yesterday that the non-profit Randolph-Macon Woman's 
College (RMWC) alumnae group Preserve Educational Choice (PEC) has lost 
both its appeals to The Virginia Supreme Court. One, commonly referred 
to as the "charitable trust" appeal, may have held out the hope of 
protecting the whole art collection at the school's Maier Museum of 
Art. Today's newspaper reports say that there were no dissenting 
justices on that particular appeal. For current coverage, see 
www.newsadvance.com (the Lynchburg newspaper). There is also a story in 
Saturday's Washington Post (Jerry Markon, "Va. Supreme Court Dismisses 
Suit"). 
 
PEC released an up-date last night (for press releases and other 
information see www.preserveeducationalchoice.org). This did not 
address PEC's position vis a vis the nonsuited (e.g. suspended) 
litigation concerning the four paintings removed from the Maier Museum 
of Art October 1, 2007 to be sold for the benefit of the college's 
operating endowment. One of those paintings, Rufino Tamayo's 
"Troubadour,"was in fact sold at auction on May 28 (setting a world 
auction record for Latin American art). PEC's further actions with 
regard to protecting the remaining three paintings taken from the Maier 
must now be decided upon. A group of plaintiffs students, alumnae, 
former faculty and staff of RMWC, Maier donors and volunteers have been 
working with PEC since late summer to protect the art collection. As 
soon as I know more about ther plans I will pass information along. 
 
For those of you who may not be aware of the details or scope of the 
Maier Museum of Art situation, a quick Google search will turn up many 
citations in national print and broadcast archives, including NPR and 
the New York Times. A good place to start is Eve Conant's "A Shot 
through the Art," in Newsweek, for the week of October 15, 2007, and 
Stephanie Cash's "Stealth Moves at Randolph College" in the December 
2007 issue of Art in America. Also of interest in setting the context 
is Neely Tucker's "A Small College, Painted into a Corner," Washington 
Post, September 19, 2007. 
 
Throughout this agonizing process organizations such as ACUMG have been 
an invaluable source of advice and comradeship to many of us. See the 
ACUMG web site for its October 2007 statement condemning Randolph 
College's course of action. Organizations such as CAA, AAMD and AAMC, 
SEMC, and the Virginia Association of Museums have all made strong 
public comments as well. Many people, concerned citizens as well as 
public officials, have appealed to the Virginia Attorney General for 
his help in preventing the loss of these masterpieces to the citizens 
of Central Virginia. The topic, sadly familiar to many of us from the 
Fisk University and Philadelphia's Eakins controversies, has been 
addressed at panels at this year's CAA and AAM conferences. 
 
Thank you for your continuing expressions of support and concern. They 
are very much appreciated.  
  
best,  
  
Karol 
former director of the Maier Museum of Art 
 
Karol Lawson 
3601 Surrey Lane 
Lynchburg, Virginia 24503 
434-386-0458 
[log in to unmask] 
 

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).