Talk of University Museum Shutdown Causes a Ruckus

I read an article in the New York Times a few weeks ago that Brandeis University was considering auctioning of its esteemed Rose Art Museum's well-developed collection of art work due to a significant drop in the University's endowment. Once the news broke, a backlash soon surfaced amongst power houses in the art world who were upset with the idea of disjointing such a cultivated collection with the sole purpose of raising money. The University's trustees voted to shut down the museum with the intent of raising money with sales of the art. Such controversy has erupted in the art world that today the University released news that the school has decided to assign a team of to consider the museum's future. It is interesting to see the extremes of how different people feel about the value of art. On the one hand there are those who see the decision as a no-brainer, those who think money that will help the University's endowment is the only rational choice. On the other hand, there are those who are passionate about the collection and feel that many peoples' efforts have gone into cultivating the works and they are too valuable in themselves and the museum is too much a part of the school's history to shut down. It will be interesting to see what comes of the debate.