Fisk Awaits Ruling on Art

Fisk University now awaits a ruling from Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on whether the school will keep its famed Alfred Stieglitz collection of art. Attorney for Fisk and the O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe made closing arguments in a trial today.

Fisk went to court in the first place to ask if it could sell part of the 101-piece collection donated by the late-painter Georgia O’Keeffe. Now, the university merely hopes to hold on to the art.

Fisk alum Daryl Stuart is a museum curator from the Washington D.C.-area who sat in on the three-day trial.

“My hope is that the judge will rule that the school maintains the collection and that it is finally used in a way that the students can take real pride in it.”

Stuart says she hopes her alma mater abandons the idea of selling off part of the 75-million dollar collection. So far, Fisk officials haven’t taken that vow.

In closing arguments, attorneys for the O’Keeffe Museum said Fisk has intentionally kept the art in storage not for security reasons but to prove a point…that the school can’t afford to show it and should instead be able to sell. Facing a potential loss of the entire collection, Fisk attorneys say the school can pay for repairs at a campus gallery. Administrators at the cash-strapped school just didn’t want to take money out of the classroom.

Chancellor Lyle says she’ll make a ruling in the next 30 days.