Tennessee's AG Gets Two-Fisted With Fisk

Robert Cooper

Kudos for Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper, who is earning a place in the pantheon of CultureGrrl heroes for his handling of the proposed Fisk University deaccessions.

Elizabeth Ulrich reports in the blog Nashville Scene [via]:

In a motion filed Monday in the Davidson County Chancery Court, Cooper's asked for permission to intervene in the lawsuit [between Fisk and the O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe], for the art's sake. He says neither Fisk nor the museum are representing the interests of the people of Tennessee, the "true beneficiaries of Miss O'Keeffe's charitable gift." If the court doesn't allow him to intervene, as his motion outlines, Cooper says his ability to protect those interests and the collection will be greatly impaired.

According to the motion, Cooper wants to make sure that the university explores "all possible strategies to preserve the collection in its entirety at Fisk." If that's not possible, he's going to try to make sure that [O'Keeffe's] "Radiator" never hits the auction block. He says the painting "is clearly the signature piece and heart of the Stieglitz Collection." He'd rather see Hartley's "Painting No. 3" or another piece of the collection go.

On Tuesday, I had told a Seton Hall University class that nonprofit institutions hold their collections in the public trust, but that most State Attorneys General, whose job it is to protect the public's interest in the public patrimony, have (with few exceptions) taken a laissez-faire posture towards art disposals and towards the enforcement of donors' wishes (as in the Barnes Foundation case, where the judge publicly admonished the Pennsylvania AG for not rigorously questioning the necessity of deviating from Albert Barnes' wishes).

I'm very glad that, in this instance, Cooper may prove my cynicism about our public watchdogs to be wrong.

Meanwhile, as Reginald Stuart notes in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education:

Beyond the art sale and stepped up alumni giving appeals, Fisk has not articulated a grand plan for fundraising from local, state or national sources.

Maybe it's time they thought harder about furdraising the right way, instead of the easy way.