Red dots belong in a gallery,
not an academic art museum.

#artisacoreresource

UPDATE!

UPDATE!

Time is Running Out to Convince Valpo Administration to Do What’s Right

Valparaiso University receives the “go ahead” from the Porter County Superior Court to sell three valuable pieces of artwork from the Brauer Museum of Art in order to fund dorm renovations. Richard Brauer, the museum’s founding director and namesake, dropped his bid to intervene after the University threatened him with crippling financial sanctions if he continued to fight for what the Percy Sloan Trust Agreement tried to protect.

What Can You Do?

  1. Contact President Padilla’s Office, members of the President’s Council, and Valparaiso University Board Members

  2. Sign the Petition

  3. Show your support on campus by wearing red dots, and telling alumni how they can help by completing steps 1-3

  4. REPEAT

How We Got Here

In an email to the Valparaiso University campus community on Feb. 8, 2023, President José Padilla announced an update in the University’s pursuit of its five-year Strategic Plan…

“We will consider assets and resources that are not core or critical to our educational mission and strategic plan, and reallocate them to support the plan. In this instance, we intend to pay for the much-needed dorm renovations by using the proceeds from the sale of select paintings from the campus art museum.”

-José D. Padilla
President of Valparaiso University

What Has Happened Since…

What’s Happening Now….

Director of Museum is Fired, Museum Closes it Doors, Fate of Paintings Hangs in the Balance

Valparaiso University announced on June 20, 2024 that the Brauer Museum of Art is closed and there is no plan as of now to reopen the museum in the near future. They dismissed the director of the museum, Jonathan Canning, leaving the collection uncared for and locked away from the university community and the public.

The University is prioritizing its plan to sell the museum’s three most valuable paintings to fund renovations of freshman dormitories. Richard Brauer, the museum’s namesake and founding director, continues to speak out against the university’s petition to sell the paintings.

This story is being covered by many news outlets, which can be read here.

What’s At Stake

Rust Red Hills, 1930

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)
Oil on canvas, 16 x 30 inches
Brauer Museum of Art
Sloan Fund Purchase

The Silver Veil and
the Golden Gate, 1914

Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Oil on canvas, 30 x 32 inches
Brauer Museum of Art
Sloan Fund Purchase

Mountain Landscape, 1849

Frederic Church (1826-1900)
Oil on canvas, 14½ x 19¾ inches
Brauer Museum of Art
Gift of Percy H. Sloan

The Petition

Portrait of Inaugural Director of Brauer Museum of Art, Richard H.W. Brauer, in Storage at the Brauer Museum with the Childe Hassam and Georgia O’Keeffe, 2015,

Caleb Kortokrax (American, b. 1987)

Oil on canvas, mounted on wood (43¾ x 35 in.), Brockington/ Reeve Endowment Purchase, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, 2015.03  ©️ Caleb Kortokrax

To Valparaiso University President José Padilla and the Board of Directors of the Lutheran University Association, Inc.,

We, the undersigned – artists, collectors, donors, art historians, museum professionals, teachers, university faculty, and lovers of art – write in protest at your intention to sell paintings from the collection of the Brauer Museum of Art to fund the renovation of dormitories.

Georgia O’Keeffe’s Rust Red Hills (1930), Childe Hassam’s The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate (1914), and Frederic Church’s Mountain Landscape (1858) are extraordinary works that have been held in the public trust for sixty years. The three artists hold pride of place in the history of American art. Ownership of these works should be a source of pride, not capital, for the university. To monetize them is unethical and a grievous breach of faith with the university’s many donors, especially Percy Sloan, who donated the Church landscape and endowed the fund by which the Hassam and O’Keeffe paintings were acquired.  

The Brauer is part of a venerable tradition of American university museums, many located in small communities like Valparaiso. They are vital resources.They foster intellectual curiosity in and between diverse disciplines; they encourage cross-cultural dialogue and promote inclusivity. The Brauer lies at the heart of the university, and we challenge any interpretation of the university’s strategic plan and core mission that envisions otherwise.

We call upon you to work with the Taskforce for the Protection of University Collections and others to find a creative alternative to the sale of these cultural treasures. We ask you to leave them in the professional care of the Brauer and your faculty for the education, enrichment, and enjoyment of future generations.

Yours sincerely,

 

Sign the Petition

Over 2,500 signatures and counting…

We, the undersigned – artists, collectors, donors, art historians, museum professionals, teachers, university faculty, and lovers of art – write in protest at your intention to sell paintings from the collection of the Brauer Museum of Art to fund the renovation of dormitories.

By pressing submit you are signing the petition and sending a copy of your signed petition to President Padilla (president@valpo.edu) and the University Board of Directors.