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BREAKING: Corcoran Gallery of Art to Join Forces With University of Maryland
The troubled art museum is expected to announce a joint venture with the school Wednesday afternoon. By Luke Mullins
Photograph by Flickr user Whistling in the Dark.
Comments () | Published April 3, 2013

Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art are expected to meet Wednesday and vote on a plan to join forces with the University of Maryland, according to people familiar with the decision. The exact outlines of the plan—the finances, the players, and what it would mean for the city's oldest art gallery—were not immediately clear Wednesday morning.

Terrance Shanahan, a Save the Corcoran leader, said he expects the Corcoran and the University of Maryland to make an announcement today regarding a joint venture.

Corcoran spokesman Mimi Carter said more details of the plan would come at roughly 4 PM today, after the board of trustees meets.

The future of the Corcoran has been up in the air due to plummeting donations, falling attendance, and chaotic leadership. It was the subject of a feature story in the December 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.

Protesters outside of the Corcoran. Photograph by Robin Bell.

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  • lms

    I just want a refund...Class of 2008

  • jimmy25

    As a student at the Corcoran, I begrudgingly understand that this seems necessary out of financial decisions alone. Sad, but true. What is appalling is the way the administration has kept students at the Corcoran in the dark. Despite having meetings to try to assuage students' fears and inform us of what's going on, the first real news we heard of this was today, the same time the public heard. A friend who is faculty at the UMD art department heard about this weeks ago. Do what you must Corcoran, but don't try to shelter us from it. The students have been your only reliable source of income for the last god-knows-how-many years; it's about time to start respecting us as both intellectual and financial assets to this institution.

  • No Terp

    This isn't about prestige, it is about identity. The Board of Trustees have sacrificed the identity of the Corcoran because they never sought to engage students, faculty and staff on what the Corcoran means. If you think for a second the Corcoran will exist in 20 years, think again. The University of Maryland knows they just acquired $2 billion worth of art and they are sitting pretty. The only thing this Board knows how to do is GIVE AWAY ASSETS because they creatively come up with any other viable strategy. I wonder what they'll give away next?

  • Jenny

    Why UMD of all places? Any school in DC would've been better (except for one) UMD has no prestige at all.

  • Susannah
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Posted at 11:34 AM/ET, 04/03/2013 RSS | Print | Permalink | Comments () | Washingtonian.com Blogs