alice walton

Fisk University Gets Approval To Sell A Share of Art Collection

Filed under: Art

I've been fascinated by the saga of Nashville's Fisk University's art collection and what it says about the future of art endowments. We've been following the case of the Stieglitz art collection at Fisk University since last summer. The collection was donated by painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Fisk, which has been facing financial trouble, had asked the court for permission to sell a 50 percent share in the collection saying that it could face bankruptcy without the $30 million the sale to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas and that it can no longer afford to maintain and display the collection. A brief filed by the Attorney General argued that the plan to sell a share to the museum planned by Walmart heiress Alice Walton would void the protected status of the collection and leave the art open to being seized by creditors if Fisk were to declare bankruptcy.

In an effort to keep the collection at the university, Fisk alumna Carol Creswell-Betsch created a fund that could pay the maintenance and display costs of the collection. The fund was named for Creswell-Betsch's mother, Pearl Creswell, who was the first curator of the Stieglitz collection. But this week Fisk University was given approval to sell an ownership stake to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Per the terms of the agreement, the museum will pay $30 million for one-half interest in the collection. Fisk will have discretionary use of $10 million and the rest will go into an endowment fund to be used to maintain and display the collection. A statement on the Fisk University website from Fisk President Hazel R. O'Leary called the decision to restrict $20 million of the funds "excessive" because the income from the $20 million restricted endowment is approximately $1 million annually which "far exceeds the amount necessary to secure and maintain the Collection." O'Leary went on to mention that "Alice Walton has agreed to fund an endowment of $1,000,000 which is to be used for the support and maintenance of the Collection."

Tags: alice walton, art endowment, crystal bridges, fisk university

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Crystal Bridges Museum, The Home of Wal-Mart Art

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Would you travel to Bentonville, Arkansas for the art? You might want to in 2010 after Crystal Bridges, the art museum being created by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton opens. Walton is creating a national art museum that is dedicated to American artists from the Colonial period to the present. In 2005 Walton outbid a couple of East Coast museums, paying a record price for the 1849 Asher B. Durand work "Kindred Spirits." While some have expressed a certain snobbery over a museum founded by Wal-Mart others applaud the project both for the impressive nature of Walton's collection and for her decision to install the art in an area that is underserved when it comes to major art museums.

The museum design by architect Moshe Safdie is done in glass and light wood and is arranged around two ponds at the center of the compound which are spanned by bridges. The building is set on around 100 acres of Ozarks forest, donated by the Walton family. Visitors will follow a lane through the woods to a knoll that overlooks the pavilions. From the knoll, glass elevators take visitors to a courtyard with a glass lobby that has a view of the water. The museum will offer 34,000 square feet of exhibition space as well as a cafe, performance hall, library and research center. Crystal Bridges is expected to bring in 250,000 visitors a year.

Gallery: Crystal Bridges Museum