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Post by SICguy84 on Jan 3, 2018 9:07:13 GMT -5
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Post by 1801olney on Jan 3, 2018 9:38:31 GMT -5
I am in favor of this. Truthfully and honestly, I am shocked that there were millions of dollars worth of art work in Olney hall. It doesn't seem like the best use of it. From a security and maintenance stand point, its probably for the best that they are sold.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Jan 3, 2018 9:59:07 GMT -5
7 million buys a lot of hamburgers.
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Jan 3, 2018 10:01:07 GMT -5
If I had a $100K painting in my house and I was struggling to pay the mortgage ...
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 10:19:27 GMT -5
Not an easy decision, I'm sure. The art community is up in arms, but how many annual visitors does the museum get? Even if you include students who are forced to go for an assignment, it's a small figure. Most students probably don't even know about it. I've got mixed thoughts on the selling of something with permanent value to fill a short-term need, but I'll trust the decision-makers on this one.
Anyway - glad they are retaining the the Tanner piece, but sad to see the Walking Madonna sculpture go.
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Post by SICguy84 on Jan 3, 2018 10:50:25 GMT -5
That collection was painstakingly put together over decades through purchases, alumni gifts, generous benefactors and bequests. Makes me sick.
Outcomes? How about the consistent under performance of the basketball program? We should snatch one of G's halftime white board masterpieces and throw that up on the wall in the Olney gallery. Most overpriced piece of art ever purchased by the University by a real Master.
Yesterday it was demolishing historical Belfield buildings, today it is selling art works from the La Salle Museum, tomorrow it will be demolishing of some of the McShain built buildings on the quad and next week it will be the drop in conference to NEC or MAAC.
But what do I know? A small liberal arts school doesn't need a gem of an art collection - that's more of a Villanova thing.
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 10:55:01 GMT -5
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Jan 3, 2018 11:02:05 GMT -5
SIC, I get the general unpleasantness of this sort of thing and if it were something like MoMA selling to private interests in Dubai I'd absolutely feel the same, but La Salle's mission isn't an art gallery or building preservation and they have to manage towards that goal.
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 11:06:30 GMT -5
I agree with that -- if we aren't able to effectively meet our primary mission - of education - what good is the museum? Not saying this is where we are at, but no university, no museum.
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Post by blueandgold on Jan 3, 2018 11:41:16 GMT -5
If I had a $100K painting in my house and I was struggling to pay the mortgage ... Or you owned Park Place and were trying to keep your Oriental-Vermont-Connecticut monopoly afloat ...
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Post by calsufan on Jan 3, 2018 11:58:43 GMT -5
SIC, I get the general unpleasantness of this sort of thing and if it were something like MoMA selling to private interests in Dubai I'd absolutely feel the same, but La Salle's mission isn't an art gallery or building preservation and they have to manage towards that goal. Well said. La Salle like most other private universities not named Harvard or Yale is under immense pressure to control costs and offer a solid education at a competitive price. In the next 10 to 20 years, a lot of universities will disappear. La Salle has to adapt to survive and this is one of many steps that although some of us won't like, will be necessary if they still want to be here in the decades to come.
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 12:05:33 GMT -5
Projections put something like 1 in 5 liberal arts institutions shuttering the in the next 20 years. It's a real worry, but this is a relatively small move compared to things we've already seen. Look at Philly U, merging with Jefferson to secure a future.
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Post by 1801olney on Jan 3, 2018 12:11:22 GMT -5
Projections put something like 1 in 5 liberal arts institutions shuttering the in the next 20 years. It's a real worry, but this is a relatively small move compared to things we've already seen. Look at Philly U, merging with Jefferson to secure a future. After Jefferson sold Eakins 'The Gross Clinic' for $68 million...
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 12:18:13 GMT -5
Projections put something like 1 in 5 liberal arts institutions shuttering the in the next 20 years. It's a real worry, but this is a relatively small move compared to things we've already seen. Look at Philly U, merging with Jefferson to secure a future. After Jefferson sold Eakins 'The Gross Clinic' for $68 million... But they did hang a replica up where it formerly hung. Guess they could afford a nice replica and Philly U after turning a $200 purchase into $68mil.
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Post by gymrat67 on Jan 3, 2018 12:37:29 GMT -5
Breaking news : Loud, strange, unidentified, subsurface whirring sound reported this morning at Christian Brothers La Salle Hall cemetery in Beltsville, MD.
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jan 3, 2018 12:39:18 GMT -5
Literally never went to the art museum. I'm sure I'm not alone.
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Post by gymrat67 on Jan 3, 2018 13:21:18 GMT -5
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Jan 3, 2018 13:41:41 GMT -5
Literally never went to the art museum. I'm sure I'm not alone. I went once with a class but I had no idea there was that much value inside.
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Post by Happy Fortune on Jan 3, 2018 14:15:56 GMT -5
Literally never went to the art museum. I'm sure I'm not alone. I accidentally reached the art museum more than I did intentionally. (2 times)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 15:20:38 GMT -5
Been a while since I indulged in a lengthy screed on this website! This is, in a word, disappointing. Universities in America in the 21st century have a lot of choices to make, and the ones who come out as winners in this scrum will see those tough choices for the opportunity they represent. Selling assets is not an opportunity, it's surrender. Catholic universities across the country are engaging in this kind of surrender - death by apology and disposal of assets. They continue to abandon the faith for worldly praise, hypocritical glory, and money. This artwork isn't simply an asset on a balance sheet. It is cultural heritage, Catholic heritage. That the university chose to sell it on the open market rather than privately to institutions who would be careful stewards of that heritage tells me grave things about the state of the university and its leadership. These thirty pieces of silver are not worth what it will and probably already has cost the university in PR, and as a bonus we're supposed to assume on faith that whatever the proceeds go to will be worth it, as if the university hasn't endured decades of mismanagement that led to this in the first place. I assumed rock bottom was the very public financial bloodletting a few years back, but here we are. La Salle needs to seriously consider the position it wants to occupy in this world. Does it want to be a Catholic university? A liberal arts college? An advanced vocational school? A secular, private university? The de facto PASSHE campus Philadelphia County should have had decades ago? Right now it's splitting the difference somewhere in the middle of all of that, and performing poorly on all counts as a result. The endowment isn't large enough to sustain this catastrophe forever, and I hope that in the end the stewards of the university see secular appeasement for the tire fire it is and resume the promotion of a Catholic identity. If the university dies in that form, then it dies an honorable death. If it goes in the opposite direction, lionizing losers, corrupting the culture and venerating sin in an effort to score brownie points with people who will never like them, then the university will have died anyway. Whatever, I'm going to pretend that the money is going to buy out Giannini in March. Also, shoutout to SICguy84 writing this one up before I had a chance to, since he chose a much better, more accurate title than I would have.
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 16:28:04 GMT -5
The endowment isn't large enough to sustain this catastrophe forever, and I hope that in the end the stewards of the university see secular appeasement for the tire fire it is and resume the promotion of a Catholic identity. If the university dies in that form, then it dies an honorable death. If it goes in the opposite direction, lionizing losers, corrupting the culture and venerating sin in an effort to score brownie points with people who will never like them, then the university will have died anyway. Did you just really link the "Cash Me Ousside" girl's music video, an Ellen clip about the Temple kid who went viral over food recipes, and a George Ciccariello-Maher story as something relevant to us selling artwork? And you do know that selling artwork as a strategic decision doesn't mean we pledged allegiance to the devil, right? Cash me ousside, this conversation has taken a hilarious turn.
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Jan 3, 2018 16:39:39 GMT -5
Hypothetically, what if we make $5MM and say half of that goes towards need-based scholarships? Wouldn't that be like 100x more on-point to our christian message than choosing the material goods?
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 16:50:01 GMT -5
I can't take any of the argument serious because we're now having a conversation about how La Salle's artwork sales inches us closer to a culture that endorses Bhad Bhabi, a controversial professor, and a YouTube dude that laughs at shitty online recipes. This is too much.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 17:12:19 GMT -5
I was using the emptiness and the ugliness of modern secular culture to illustrate what La Salle would be embracing if it turned further away from Catholicism. These things don't happen in a vacuum, and they don't happen overnight. An inch here, an inch there, and suddenly someone's rewritten the Apostle's Creed. This isn't even hypothetical in the University's context. A quick glance through the spring's religion courses finds 22 of the 37 ostensibly completely unrelated to Catholicism and Christianity.
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Post by explorer88 on Jan 3, 2018 17:44:36 GMT -5
I used to go down and just relax and have a peaceful moment with myself when I was at La Salle. I loved visiting there. Shame they are selling the paintings.
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postup
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Post by postup on Jan 3, 2018 19:37:19 GMT -5
Another idiotic decision by La Salle. Disappointing.
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Post by durenduren on Jan 3, 2018 20:17:21 GMT -5
I was using the emptiness and the ugliness of modern secular culture to illustrate what La Salle would be embracing if it turned further away from Catholicism. These things don't happen in a vacuum, and they don't happen overnight. An inch here, an inch there, and suddenly someone's rewritten the Apostle's Creed. This isn't even hypothetical in the University's context. A quick glance through the spring's religion courses finds 22 of the 37 ostensibly completely unrelated to Catholicism and Christianity. Selling works of art has nothing to do with the University's stance on its' Christian morality and roots. This is interpreting a tough financial decision into something it isn't. And without delving into a religious debate too much, a well-rounded Christian should have the ability to learn and respect other religions into today's global society where borders matter less and less, where we are connected more and more regardless of religion. I think we're more on mission than many of our peers, and I don't think the course load supports us abandoning that mission. I'm not sure my opinion will be considered by you, though. It sounds like any change will be interpreted as an attack on that foundation you experienced. Adapt and survive?
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Post by charmcityexplorer on Jan 3, 2018 21:08:26 GMT -5
Breaking news : Loud, strange, unidentified, subsurface whirring sound reported this morning at Christian Brothers La Salle Hall cemetery in Beltsville, MD. This was my initial reaction (though not quite as “eloquent”).
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Post by theneumann64 on Jan 3, 2018 21:25:33 GMT -5
I admit I'm not the best person to weigh in on this. I was born and raised Lutheran (although by the time I was at La Salle I'd consider it very casual), and now I consider myself basically an Atheist, and I don't believe I ever went to the Art Museum. That's not to say I don't care that's it there- I'm glad La Salle has it, and I get being bummed they're selling off pieces- I understand how you could think it sucks it came to that.
But I'd rather them make some money and put that money back into what they describe as the Core Mission of the school in the article. Something tells me that's more in keeping with the values the school was founded on anyway. It doesn't seem like they came to the decision flippantly. And I really don't want to wade into some of the "issues" raised about the "ugliness of modern secular culture," because I think the school selling some artwork really has nothing to do with that (if you even grant the premise), but I will just say that one of the things I loved about La Salle was that as a Non-Catholic, I never felt in anyway ostracized or uncomfortable. Obviously most of the students were Catholic in varying degrees), but nothing ever felt "forced" upon me.
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Post by SICguy84 on Jan 3, 2018 21:36:55 GMT -5
Core pedagogical mission.
Is an art museum for undergrad students, art history students, art folks, school children from local neighborhoods and others part of the core mission? Are adirondack chairs on the quad a core mission? Is being a member of the Atlantic 10 or even Division I part of the core mission?
Let's call it what it is; an attempt, in my view pathetic, to raise cash.
It's a slippery slope defining what is and isn't part of the core mission.
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