Write to your legislators today.

It is important for citizens to voice their opposition to the use of taxpayer money for the Barnes Move. Please email or mail a letter addressing those issues to your legislator.

Sample of a letter:

Dear Senator/ Representative,
 
As a taxpayer of the Commonwealth, I write to protest the scandalous use of $107 million in state revenue to move the Barnes Foundation's art collection five miles from Lower Merion to Philadelphia.  I urge you to take the appropriate action to prevent the disbursement of any further monies for this wasteful, destructive, and unnecessary purpose.  At a time when essential public services are in jeopardy, there is and can be no justification for such spending.

I urge you and your fellow legislators to tell Governor Rendell now:  Not one more cent of our precious tax dollars to move art while police and firefighting funds are being cut, and while the state-funded health, educational, medical services, and cultural institutions are in jeopardy.
 
Sincerely,
Sign your name and give your full address

To locate your legislator, go to the following page on the Pennsylvania State House website:  http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm

To download this letter as a word document: Click here

Contact those responsible for the move. 

Those responsible for the move claim that more people will see the art at the new location: there is no proof that is the case.  At present, anyone who cares to see the Barnes is able to do so.  It is claimed the real Barnes is inaccessible, yet there is a train station at one end of the street and a public bus stop at the other.  A shuttle bus from downtown Philadelphia to Merion would take 15 minutes. If moved, not one person will ever experience the Paul Cret-designed, purpose-built gallery and 12-acre arboretum with all its historic and aesthetic resonances.

Because of the power of the Pew Trusts and the Annenberg Foundation there has been very little public outcry from the arts community. 

We call upon you to act now.  Join the groundswell of support for keeping the Barnes Foundation where it is.  Write or call one or all of the people listed below and let them know that what they are doing is not in the best interest of art, history, or philanthropy.  

•  TRUSTEES OF THE BARNES FOUNDATION
300 Latch’s Lane
Merion, PA 19066-1729

Dr. Neil L. Rudenstine           
Agnes Gund     
Bruce S. Gordon
Brenda Thompson
Gwendolyn Stewart King
Aileen Kennedy Roberts
Andre V. Duggin
Bernard C, Watson
Joseph Neubaurer
Stephen J. Harmelin, Esq
The Honorable Jacqueline F. Allen
Ambassador Harold E. Doley, Jr
Sheldon M. Bonovitz, Esq

•  THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS                               
One Commerce Square                            
2005 Market Street, Suite 1700                   
Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077  
Rebecca Rimel                                            
President and Chief Executive Officer                       
215-575-4700                                                 
 

•  THE ANNENBERG FOUNDATION
2000 Avenue of the Stars
Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Wallis Annenberg
Lauren Bon
Gregory Annenberg Weingarten
Charles Annenberg Weingarten

•  Governor Edward G. Rendell                      
225 Main Capitol Building                            
Harrisburg, PA 17120                                   
717-787-2500                                                 
                                                                         
 •  Tom Corbett  
Pennsylvania Attorney General  
6th Floor, Strawberry Square
Harrisburg, PA 17120 
717-787-5211         

 “ The Barnes Foundation is…important because of the enchanted stature of the Merion complex as a unique cultural monument. Once that's demolished, it cannot be willed back into being in a simulacrum on the parkway… “  Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times

ACT NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!   

Email:  barnesfriends@comcast.net
Write: 7615 St. Martin’s Lane
            Philadelphia, PA  19118

Back to Home Page