The Corcoran Gallery and College of Art and Design today announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Maryland that “opens the way to further negotiation to achieve a partnership.
The announcement states:
Over the next several months discussions and research about the specifics of the partnership will proceed with guidance from a Strategic Framework for a New Corcoran that has been developed by the Corcoran’s Board and leadership. The collaboration would make possible programmatic and operational initiatives that would strengthen both institutions and result in significant cost savings for the Corcoran.
The Corcoran also announced the completion of an agreement with the National Gallery of Art, under which the Corcoran will exhibit works of modern and contemporary art from the National Gallery’s collection during the three-year period when the East Building is under renovation.
The Board has reaffirmed that the Corcoran will remain in its landmark building on 17th Street.
Finally, the Board announced that at its April 3 meeting it appointed museologist Peggy Loar [my link, not theirs] as Consulting Director of the Corcoran, effective immediately. [I remember her as a solid professional from her time at the Institute of Museum Services and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).
A teleconference on this will start at 6 p.m. I’m not going to be able to take part, but you can: Call 1-800-793-6775 and enter 6429 6490.
The permanent collection if the University of Maryland’s current art gallery consists of “more than 1,500 prints, drawings, paintings, sculptures, and photographs….[It is] an excellent resource for teaching and research.”
With access to the Corcoran’s rich trove of American and European art, it may soon become a much stronger resource. But there are apparently many details still to be worked out in the proposed alliance.
Maybe they’ll have something exciting to celebrate (or to commiserate about) at the upcoming Corcoran Ball.