Nancy Herman, a neighbor of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, informs me that author John Anderson will not be speaking at tonight’s Philadelphia movie premiere of “The Art of the Steal,” as previously expected. She said he’ll be at the Ritz 5 theater tomorrow night. (But will everyone make it in this snow?)
Herman also took issue with my comments, in Part
I of my review of the movie, about the Friends of the Barnes (the ad hoc group opposing the move). Part II will be posted next week.
Nancy writes:
You seem to be a stickler for facts but you don’t represent them accurately here at all. First of all, the neighbors were NEVER hostile to the Barnes Foundation. For years we lived in perfect harmony with 100 people lining up in front of the gate to get in, parking on the street, whatever.
The neighbors initially gathered in the early ’90’s because of the interstate tour buses that were idling for hours on the street, spewing fumes into our homes, and to discuss [former Barnes president] Richard Glanton’s proposal for a parking lot, which would mean that anyone who thought they might like to go to the Barnes would be cruising by, stopping to see if they could get tickets, double parking, etc. We wanted the Foundation to bring people in using shuttle buses which could negotiate the turn into the foundation drop off people and leave.
None of this has to do with hostility to the Barnes and is what neighbors do all over the township and the world when they want some peace and tranquility.
The Steering committee of the Friends of the Barnes is composed mainly of former students of the Barnes, not neighbors, and the membership of Friends of the Barnes is made of of people from all over the world who deplore this move.