Yeah, serious backpedaling on the radio this morning by the president.

Brandeis president: We're liquidating our art museum to pay for hookers and blow. WorldHandful of locals: DIAF. President: I meant we might sell a "minute number" of works if absolutely necessary. WorldHandful of locals: DIAF

FTFS
I think I can speak for the World here, when I say, "So what?"

They should sell the paintings to Yale and make a nice profit.

/Silly goyim. Still paying retail

I hate to be ignorant but I looked for about 10 minutes and didn't find a single image of a single work at the Rose that I'd consider worth crying about. It's all "modern" art and most of what I saw is very kitschy.



A Barry McGee work which was previously displayed at the Rose is sort of fun.

The Rose Museum's website has no spectacular images of its collection. A Google search turned up nothing monumental.

I'd like to be shown that I'm wrong but in reality, who likes this stuff?

I guarantee that this will be the next catch phrase used by any politician or executive who gets caught in a scandal.

"To quote President Obama, 'I screwed up,' "

Because once you admit it, it makes everything fine.

As a Brandeis alum, I'm getting a kick...

No, but seriously, I never went to the museum when I was there, nor did anyone else I knew on campus. Brandeis is in deep financial shiat because all of its big endowment patrons had all their money invested with Madoff. The university has lost $700 million, which is pretty much its entire endowment. If selling off crappy art will help keep the school open, I say go for it.

/If Brandeis shuts down, is my degree still valid?

This is my boomstick: I guarantee that this will be the next catch phrase used by any politician or executive who gets caught in a scandal. "To quote President Obama, 'I screwed up,' " Because once you admit it, it makes everything fine.


It may not "make everything fine," but to be fair, having a president who admits to anything is such a radical departure from the last 8 years that we're really not sure where this might lead.

This is my boomstick: I guarantee that this will be the next catch phrase used by any politician or executive who gets caught in a scandal.

"To quote President Obama, 'I screwed up,' "

Because once you admit it, it makes everything fine.

Denis Leary would be proud.

So he's liquidating part of the collection. So what? The arts should be able to fund themselves & private collectors should be the ones to ensure it does.

"We've lost our lease . . . every Van Gogh, must go."

/better not be obscure

Have to correct some things here, as a current Brandeis student. The university has lost 250 million, not 700 million. That being said, I think the decision to sell the art in the museum is a terrible decision, for a couple of reasons. First, this is an absolutely terrible time to be selling art, in the middle of the biggest recession in decades. No one is buying at what should be the real prices for these pieces (some of which are Picassos, Chagals, Warhols, etc...). Secondly, the art is irreplaceable, and a decision like this actively turns off donors from ever giving things to Brandeis in the future, because for all they know we'll just sell it at some later point.

Finally, Jehuda is a controlling jackass who holds grudges against professors who don't agree with him, and, yes, has a goddamn Picasso in his bathroom.

Galactica Actual: As a Brandeis alum, I'm getting a kick...

No, but seriously, I never went to the museum when I was there, nor did anyone else I knew on campus. Brandeis is in deep financial shiat because all of its big endowment patrons had all their money invested with Madoff. The university has lost $700 million, which is pretty much its entire endowment. If selling off crappy art will help keep the school open, I say go for it.

/If Brandeis shuts down, is my degree still valid?

+1, same deal, same experience, same opinion.

This is my boomstick: I guarantee that this will be the next catch phrase used by any politician or executive who gets caught in a scandal.

"To quote President Obama, 'I screwed up,' "

Because once you admit it, it makes everything fine.

Wasn't that McCain on Letterman? Or did Obama say that since then?

Brandeis started going downhill once they let the goyim in and gave them a cafeteria full of treify goodness.

/I mean icky treif
//God hates shrimp and cheeseburgers

Gotta agree with Rincewind. Also a 'Deis student and I can't think of a single person on campus who likes Jehuda.

To have a personal spin on this, I'm not mad that he's selling the artwork or asking to shutter the museum, but that there was ZERO faculty or student involvement in the decision. The day they announced it, my art history professor was in tears for the entire lecture because she had spent a full year trying to bring the world's largest collection of contemporary Chinese art to our campus (to be shown at the Rose) and had even spoken to Jehuda about this recently. He never mentioned that there might not be a venue.

I would be far more likely to see his reasoning if he had talked to anyone aside from the board of trustees about this.

/hey rincewind, when's the next Axis and Allies game night?

The core issue is not so simplistic-
Not only does it potentially remove work that was intended by donors to be available to the public in perpetuity- sending instead into potentially private and unavailable collections/ It is also symptomatic of a larger failing in parts of the american university system. There are far more options than simple outright sale- works can be lent/rented to other venues for show or exchange with other art works on a limited basis. Stewardship as a museum philosophy has been moved beyond (for better or worse) by several big museums and several smaller- hey, malocom rogers rented out monet paintings to a vegas casino to aid in the inventory stream-

Beyond this the availability/ attraction/ interest in the museum is a reflective of the efficacy of the support lent to it. Did the museum's budget allow for promoting the museum? had anyone worked to make it an attraction?

At Harvard recently, a study said the university, and our society in general needs to embrace creativity more if we hope to lead in adaption and innovation. If you need one example alone demonstrating our inability to be creative/innovative just look to the auto industry. If we cannot be a manufacturing country in a free trade world, then surely art/creativity must be embraced if we are to succeed. Consider design- why are apple products so popular: because their aesthetic complements their function- their design is beautiful. Leave the world to those who undervalue art/ creativity/ the humanities in general, you end up with a society with nothing new to export and with a pretty boring existence.