Noticias ::: Fisk University files new plan to sell share in Stieglitz collection

Fisk University has drafted a new plan to sell a $30 million share in its art collection to an Arkansas museum, hoping that this time the court will sign off on the deal.

Documents filed with a Nashville chancery court Friday attempt to remove provisions that had raised alarms — including language that could have allowed the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to slowly buy up the entire $73 million art collection if Fisk was unable to pay its share of the upkeep.

"Neither Fisk nor Crystal Bridges intended for this agreement to result in the erosion of Fisk's ownership in the Stieglitz collection," Fisk's attorneys wrote in the filing.

The university is asking the court to set aside the wishes of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, who gave the university 101 modern art masterpieces that she and her husband, photographer Arthur Stieglitz, had collected. The collection includes works by O'Keeffe, Picasso, Cezanne and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Fisk argued that the cost of maintaining the collection had become burdensome for the struggling school and that the $30 million sale agreement with Crystal Bridges is the only way to restore its depleted endowment fund.

Taking no chances, the university lifted much of the language for its changes directly from an earlier court order by Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle. Lyle has given Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper — who is battling to block the sale and keep the art in Nashville — until Oct. 22 to submit new arguments against the sale.

Cooper has argued that setting aside O'Keeffe's wishes would have a chilling effect on charitable donations to other Tennessee universities and charities. In court, his attorneys also pointed out that Fisk has said it needs at least $150 million to get back on sound fiscal footing — and the $30 million art sale would be only a drop in the bucket.

"The fact remains that selling the Stieglitz Collection neither solves Fisk's underlying financial problems nor honors the intent of the donor, Georgia O'Keeffe," Cooper said in a statement. "There are alternatives that would ensure the collection remains available to Fisk students and the Nashville public in a way that honors the mission and the history of Fisk, protects the public interest and respects the donor's wishes."

Revised Plan

Earlier this fall, Cooper offered the court his proposal to keep the art in Nashville by moving it from Fisk to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts until the university was in better shape. Amid angry protests from Fisk students and the community, the judge rejected the proposal and ordered Cooper to focus on the merits of the sales agreement.

Fisk's revised sale plan removes a provision that would have set up a separate Delaware-based corporation to oversee the art and mediate between Fisk and Crystal Bridges. Opponents warned that the corporation, again, could have shifted the balance of power in the art-sharing agreement to Crystal Bridges' favor. Instead, the chancery court would oversee any disputes between the two sides.

The new contract also blocks Crystal Bridges from selling its share of the collection without the Davidson County court's permission.

It also beefs up the language in the contract urging that O'Keeffe's wishes be followed as closely as possible.

O'Keeffe's gift to Fisk came with a great many strings attached.

Along with her wish that the collection never be sold, O'Keeffe also left detailed instructions about everything from how the collection should be displayed to the color the gallery walls should be painted.

Rotating Collection

The deal Fisk hopes to strike with Crystal Bridges would rotate the collection between Nashville and Bentonville, Ark.

The new agreement outlines the first schedule for the art swap: The art would remain at Fisk until 2013, go to Crystal Bridges for two years, then return to Fisk from 2015 to 2017 and continue to rotate every two years.

While the art is out of town, the empty spaces in the university's Van Vechten gallery would be filled with images of the art and interactive computer kiosks for students to access information about the collection.

"In the 21st century, museums have adopted the practice of sharing artwork to reduce the cost of acquisition and to ensure that a broader segment of the population can view and study collections," Fisk University President Hazel O'Leary said in a statement. "The students of Fisk, to whom Georgia O'Keeffe made the gift of art, citizens of Nashville and of the state of Tennessee, are in no way adversely impacted by this sharing agreement. Rather, because of the sharing arrangement, more people in the South can enjoy and study The Stieglitz Collection which was the donor's intent."