The Barnes Foundation appears closer to financial stability after a court recently ruled that its renowned art collection could -- in defiance of its founder's will -- move to a new Center City home near the intersection of 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
For University students, this plan creates the enticing prospect of a new art museum and cultural opportunity -- one that is relatively easily accessible from campus.
Students seem to feel that the collection's relocation is good for Philadelphia. College junior Arthur Chiang noted that "Philadelphia could benefit from an increase in [the number of] artistic venues, especially compared to New York."
The new gallery, yet to be constructed, would be on the site currently occupied by the Youth Study Center -- a juvenile detention facility operated by the city.
The process of moving the collection is not as simple as it may seem -- the relocation plan is riddled with points of political contention.
Albert C. Barnes -- a Main Line aristocrat whose fortune came from the success of Argyrol, an antiseptic silver compound that he helped develop -- is still stirring controversy nearly 54 years after his death.
Barnes -- who earned his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1892 at the age of 20 -- was an avid collector of then-contemporary artwork, including pieces by Picasso, Matisse and Cezanne.
Out of this collection and Barnes' views on education grew the foundation in his name, started in 1922 as an educational institution.
The collection is currently housed in a building designed by Paul Phillipe Cret and nestled among the gated estates of Latch's Lane in Merion, just outside of Philadelphia.
Several problems have arisen since Barnes' death in 1951. His will contains specific provisions that have created unfavorable financial circumstances for the foundation.
As a champion of the working class -- he was born in the city's blue-collar Kensington section -- Barnes' will caps admission fees at $5, what some call a meager sum for an institution of such magnitude.
Further pinching the revenue stream is a court order -- intended to decrease traffic in the area -- that limits the number of visitors per week to 1,200, meaning reservations and waits for many who wish to visit.
In recent years, the fiscal situation has become desperate to the point where the foundation must contemplate several plans aimed at rescuing the organization from financial ruin.
The proposed solution favored by the foundation's board is to move the collection to the more accessible Center City location. This plan is backed by a total of $150 million pledged by local charitable trusts.
Associate professor of Art History Christine Poggi, like many in the Philadelphia art community, has mixed feelings about the plan. She said of the move, "On the whole I'm in favor ... but I will regret the [loss of the] intimate setting."
However, she cited several positive aspects of the move.
"The collection is very restricted" and the foundation is "constantly plagued by its neighbors."
Poggi also expressed reservations, though: "I do hope it can keep its character ... It should not be turned into a commercial enterprise."
Indeed, the commercialization of the Barnes collection has concerned many. The foundation was, after all, created as a school, not as a museum.
The move has not been finalized, despite Montgomery County Orphans' Court Judge Stanley Ott's Dec. 13 ruling that permits the foundation's board to amend its bylaws.
Several art students have appealed the ruling, arguing that the organization's educational mission would suffer.
Officials from the foundation were not immediately available for comment.
Other potential solutions that have been discussed are liquidating Ker-Feal -- a Chester County farmhouse owned by the foundation -- or selling some pieces from the collection to cover budget gaps.
