The Barnes Files, an essay series.
Friends of
the Barnes Foundation produces an essay series in cooperation with The
Main Line Times, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania to engage people to
think about the history and fate of the Barnes Foundation in Merion.
“Pardon My Optimism, but Fresh Ideas Can Work (If You Let Them)”
by Evelyn Yaari
It was interesting to read Barnes Foundation General Counsel Phyllis Beck’s explanation of why the Barnes Foundation is no more accessible now than it has been since 1998 despite real opportunities to improve it.
Full Essay
"For Better Accessibility to the Barnes Foundation, Take Down the Smokescreens" by Evelyn Yaari
Improved access to the Barnes Foundation is a popular, sometimes heated item for discussion. There are those who would have us believe that the Barnes is blocked to all but a privileged few. In fact, it is open to everyone.
Full Essay
“More Than an Art Collection” by Sandy Bressler
People say, “What’s wrong with moving the Barnes art collection
to Philadelphia? It will stay intact and remain in the region.” This
line of thinking ignores the fact that the Barnes is much more than an art collection.
Full Essay
“Barnes and Education” by Jay Raymond
It is my contention that those in favor of moving the art cannot understand
what sort of education Dr. Barnes nurtured and intended, for if they
did, this plan to move the art would make them weep, as I do when
I contemplate what will be lost.
Full Essay
“Eakins, Barnes, and a Great City” by Evelyn Yaari and Sandy
Bressler
Great cities celebrate and protect their cultural
heritage. Rather
than move the Barnes art collection to Philadelphia, let a shuttle bus
move visitors from Philadelphia to the Barnes. On the return trip,
they would see an exquisite panorama of a truly great city, a generous
city that acts wisely and honorably with the region’s artistic
legacies.
Full Essay
“A Grateful Student” by Michelle Osborn
I’m a graduate of Smith College, I learned Spanish at the University
of Madrid… yet the most exciting educational experience of my
long life was at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA.
Full Essay
“Hostile Neighbors or Concerned Citizens?” by Evelyn Yaari
In June of last year, I joined Friends of the Barnes Foundation,
the organization opposing the plan to move the artwork of the Barnes
from Merion to Philadelphia and decided to throw myself into a personal
street campaign…
Full Essay
“Visionary Collectors” by Nancy Herman
When the average Philadelphian was of the opinion
that Modigliani was an exotic pasta, that nothing African could be considered ‘art’ and
that Renoir was a pornographer, Albert C. Barnes was collecting this
art.
Full Essay
“A Civic-Minded Woman” by Margot Flaks
Its Merion location is as much a part of the Barnes as its art and
there is no other place quite like it.
Once destroyed, there can be no willing it back.
Full Essay
“Missing in Action -The Attorney General” by Aram Jerrehian
The Attorney General is missing in action. Not Tennessee’s
Attorney General…But rather, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, whose
office is charged with overseeing nonprofit corporations and reviewing
the actions of trustees of trust.
Full Essay
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