Artworks that had hung for many years in public schools in Philadelphia were removed during Christmas break in 2003 by then-Superintendent Paul Vallas, on then grounds that the art was too valuable to hand in the schools. The art has been hidden away in storage these past years and was nearly sold off to help balance the budget.
The art will be returned to the public schools!
The art includes works by Thomas Eakins, N.C. Wyeth, noted African American artists Henry Ossawa Tanner and Dox Thrash, and late 19th- and early 20th-century Pennsylvania impressionists Walter Baum and Edward Redfield. At the time they were removed by the district, some works were proudly displayed with gallery lighting and signs; other pieces were found stuffed in closets or boiler rooms.
Officials had them removed from buildings, sometimes under cover of darkness, and said at the time that they would catalog and restore the art, if necessary, before figuring out how best to display the pieces.
The collection remained concealed, however, save for 15 of the works briefly exhibited at the Michener Museum in Bucks County in 2017. A group of advocates, led by former Philadelphia educators, spent years trying to figure out exactly what was in storage and how to get it back in front of children.
Other districts have wrestled with the same problem; some have formed nonprofits to handle their art, and others have partnered with museums to show it.
Arlene Holtz, retired principal of Woodrow Wilson Middle School, which once had 72 significant oil paintings carefully framed and hung in its hallways, cheered when the board formalized its new policy in December.
When the district removed the works from Wilson and other schools, “we lost not just a treasure, we lost an idea — that beautiful artwork belongs not just to the rich, it belongs to all our children regardless of where they live,” Holtz said.
Wilson’s art collection was amassed by Charles Dudley, the school’s first principal, who believed that exposing children to art would inspire good behavior and morals and make the school beautiful. He created a museum-like environment, directly appealing to such artists as Baum to sell him works at a good price. Dudley raised funds by charging a nickel to show visitors the collection.
Another school, Laura Wheeler Waring Elementary, in Fairmount, used to display a work by Waring herself, the African American artist and teacher for whom the school is named.
“These collections are inexhaustible and are to be preserved and used to benefit the students and citizens of Philadelphia,” the board policy declared. “The School District of Philadelphia’s collections of art shall be held for educational purposes, research, or public exhibition for the community to enjoy or to generate funds for their preservation and not for financial gain.”
The new board policy is a victory, but a first step, said Holtz. The art has been cataloged and accounted for, but it remains in storage.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Wilson’s art collection was amassed by Charles Dudley, the school’s first principal, who believed that exposing children to art would inspire good behavior and morals and make the school beautiful. He created a museum-like environment, directly appealing to such artists as Baum to sell him works at a good price. Dudley raised funds by charging a nickel to show visitors the collection.”
What a great idea. If this was about a charter school there would be 15 committees convened to promote it- “innovative art program in charter school!”
I wonder how many other public school stories go untold.
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Let’s hope they follow through. The elites in Philadelphia have a nasty habit of taking what they want…see more here about what happened to the $25B Barnes art collection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_the_Steal_(2009_film)
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HAHAHA…off topic, but I always refer to Trump’s book as “The Art of the Steal”!
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While the way in which the art was moved may have been controversial, I would not say that the Barnes’ collection was “stolen.” Formerly, the art was on the Main Line in a suburban neighborhood. The Barnes collection is now on the Parkway near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Franklin Institute. There is a tourist loop bus that makes it easy for tourists to make multiple stops en route. The building that houses the collection is a tasteful, modern masterpiece. Many, many more people will enjoy the art in its new, centrally located building.
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Compare: public school students viewed as people who might appreciate and benefit from great art, to this:
“US Dept of Education
Well-designed games motivate students to actively engage in content that relates to coursework & master challenging tasks designed to sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, employment and life skills. The #EDGamesExpo is all about game-based learning”
We sell them ed tech product to brush up on their “employment skills” – apparently their only value is as future employees- ROI- return on investment. Students are seen only as possible “human capital” for their future employers.
They suck the joy out of everything. It’s such a grim, narrow view of “education”.
Public schools- please stop buying what ed reform is selling. You can do much. much better than buying cheap ed tech crap to train future low level employees. Aim higher.
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Chiara,
Right on.
Love your last paragraph:
“Public schools- please stop buying what ed reform is selling. You can do much. much better than buying cheap ed tech crap to train future low level employees. Aim higher.”
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AArtworks that had hung for many years in public schools in Philadelphia were removed during Christmas break in 2003 by then-Superintendent Paul Vallas, on then grounds that the art was too valuable to hang in the schools.”
That pretty much says it all.
When art is considered more valuable than children, you know you have become completely morally bankrupt.
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And one has to wonder if there was an element of racism involved.
Would the artwork have been removed from predominently white schools in middle class neighborhoods?
Woodrow Wilson Middle School is mostly made up of students from poor, minority families.
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When black and brown students are considered line items in a wealthy person’s “portfolio,” you know you are morally bankrupt.
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Vallas is running for mayor of Chicago, by the way.
Not something he would want to explain were he asked about it in a debate, I suspect .
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I was going to point that out too. I’d say great minds think alike, but my daughter tells me great minds think differently – that’s what makes them great minds. So I guess I have an average mind.
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Your daughter is very logical and must be a great mind because she challenges the standard claim.
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Maybe soneone can get a debate moderator to ask him why he removed the paintings.
It would make for good entertainment.
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Good point, SomeDAM….
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That’s exactly the passage I was going to highlight, with the same response. You beat me to it because I’m too busy picking my jaw up off the floor.
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The Cincinnati Public Schools had original artworks in many schools. Sometime ago the most valuable of these were removed from the schools. There had been some vandalism and the environments in many schools (heating, cooling, lighting, etc.) were not planned for these displays.
Some schools still have original Rookwood ceramic tile drinking fountains from a local (and now famous) pottery. One high school still has full-scale replicas of classical sculptures, many with fig leafs.
In the late 1990s, formal appraisals were made of the collection. In 1997, the FBI was investigating the attempted unauthorized sale of one work. Many works are in storage but a few are now part of the Cincinnati Art Museum.
High school students donated money to start the collection. That was around 1895. Over time, other students along with teachers and alumni collected money to sustain the program.
In 2008, the value of the collection, estimated at about $3 million, became the focus of a campaign to sell the works. That campaign happened in the midst of a pending effort to raise taxes for schools. Whether the works could actually fetch the appraised value (done10 years earlier) helped to squash enthusiasm.
In the meantime, the CPS district had started work on a major facilities plan giving attention to preservation and relocating some works.
https://www.cps-k12.org/about-cps/about-the-district/facilities-master-plan/history
https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/about/blog/art-in-bloom-2015-highlights-cincinnati-public-schools-art-collection/
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The school environments were good enough for students but not paintings?
Makes perfect sense.
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Good point.
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Dienne
I probably have a bit of a nonstandard view about which environments are suitable for paintings.
I have several of my paintings hanging in our unfinished, unheated garage, just above the antifreeze, oil, and transmission fluid.
Then again, I paint on hardboard, which is much more stable than canvas. Doesn’t “breath” like canvas with changes in temperature and humidity.
If you have ever looked closely at old museum paintings done on canvas, they are all cracked. Canvas is a very poor base for paintings, but many artists still use it for some odd reason.
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A story with a happy ending. One doesn’t see many of these in politics anymore.
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Environments for the conservation and preservation of artworks such as paintings, tapestries and works on paper are different from environments suitable for students in schools. As one example, for some collections museums now have low level systems. Higher lighting is time-limited and activated only when people enter a room.
Read the post. “The School District of Philadelphia’s collections of art shall be held for educational purposes, research, or public exhibition for the community to enjoy or to generate funds for their preservation and not for financial gain.”
“Klose, the Philadelphia district official, said the school system could return work only to a school that could keep it safe.
Central High, for instance, retrieved works that had been removed from its walls, but it is able to store them in its climate-controlled, secure library.”
“Traveling exhibits or public shows at the district’s central headquarters on North Broad Street are a possibility, McGinley said; so is an online teaching tool or other ways to make the art and its history part of the School District’s curriculum.
“There is an information-sharing responsibility on the part of the district,” said McGinley. “We have the ability and the responsibility to have periodic showings of the work.”
“We want to create teaching materials,” said Klose. “Perhaps if there’s a school that would really love to have their artwork, but can’t guarantee its safety, we could make a proxy of the work, and put it on display for the kids to see.”
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No it doesn’t make perfect sense, if you know about the conservation and preservation of art, and if you attach some value to those acts of conservation and preservation, and the prospect that the works survive for students and others to enjoy, view with wonder and ask questions about. Vallas’ actions were unconsionable (and likely driven from an inflated guess at the monetary value of the works).
Please see my post below. The conservation and preservation of these works is now on a path that seems to be educationally sound. If you have an interest in the conservation and preservation of art and world heritage sites, you can subscribe to the J. Paul Getty Conservation Institute publication for free. This is also a wonderful resource for a non-commercial approach to STEM. http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/bulletin/index.html
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error should be “low-level lighting systems”
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The best way to preserve artwork would be to put it in a hermetically sealed, climate controlled room in complete darkness where it would never see the light of day.
But then of course, no one could see and enjoy it. 😀
So there is obviously some compromise involved, even with displaying artwork in museums.
Don’t get me wrong. I agree that sensible things should be done to preserve paintings and other art, but just don’t think that need be incompatible with it’s being in schools UNLESS the environment in the schools is just very bad to begin with (excesive heat, cold and humidity)in which case the students should probably not be in it either.
Something as simple as putting paintings behind glass perhaps with some water absorbing material like silica that is changed regularly can protect them from UV light, probing fingers and humidity which probably eliminates many if not most of the preservation concerns. And preservation of artwork like marble statues is certainly a nonissue inside pretty much any school, since such statues are regularly displayed outside in rain and snow.
I suspect you are right that Vallas’ actions had little if anything to do with any knowledge about art preservation and were instead done out of complete ignorance and perhaps less innocent reasons.
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Also, as I alluded to above, a very large part of preservation issue arises from the way the artwork was produced — eg, on stretched canvas possibly using paints that are not colorfast when exposed to light.
I am simply amazed at how many painters still paint on stretched canvas. It is probably THE most unstable base for a painting and that people are still using this with so many other much better options (including canvas glued to hardboard or just hardboard itself) is actually unbelievable.
Also, I suspect that many commercial paints (eg, for outside use) are probably more durable than many so called “artists” paints that one gets in an art store.
Perhaps if the art world joined the 21st century with regard to it’s materials and methods (NOT painting on stretched canvas) , artists would not need to worry as much about displaying their work in what are actually fairly benign environments like schools. Of course, that would not help for paintings that have used older materials, but it would certainly help going forward.
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As anyone who has used stretched canvas as I am sure you have also knows, it is a pain in the butt to paint on because of the ‘give”.
Much easier to paint on hardboard.
I painted a few pieces on stretched canvas when I first started painting and then gave it the boot and now paint exclusively on hardboard, mainly because it is just easier to prepare and use.
Frankly, I don t care if my paintings are around 100 years from now, but given that many of them are done with acrylic on hardboard, I suspect they will nonetheless probably outlast many old oil paintings on stretched canvas in museums which are often faded and riddled with cracks.
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Yet another abomination at the hands of Paul Vallas &, yes, he is running for mayor in Chicago. AND–we are now, really, at a point that he could become the front-runner, as 4 of the considered-to-be “top” candidates are now connected to scandal involving a long-time, powerful Chicago alderman. Given that, & what the majority of Chicagoans DON’T know (what we know) about Vallas, he could win, or at least be in a run-off (NEVER forget 2016).
So, again, I’m asking (begging, really) for Mercedes Schneider & Helen Gym to write an editorial essay for the Chicago Sun-Times (& Jonathan, too, RE: Bridgeport)as to what he’s done to the schools (or tried to do) in your cities. I wish I had the links (Dienne, if you can get it, please post here) to the several articles (a full-page, today, by the Better Govt. Assn.,titled, “Fact Check: Vallas Claims CPS Healthier Under Him” (& their PolitiFact “Truth-O-Meter” rated the statement “Mostly True.” “His claim is accurate but requires additional information to understand the context.” All made him sound good.
In the same newspaper, on Sunday, 12/30: “Why Charter School Supporters Worry About the Next Mayor.” You can read his response at http://bit.ly/2RpbwYJ
In part, “Vallas, also known as a charter schools proponent, said, Chicago shouldn’t open new schools ‘of any type until the district has a long-term plan to deal with over-capacity.’ But Vallas also left the door open: ‘I would support existing high-performing charterstaking over failing existing charter schools with ‘no displacement of children’ & would under certain circumstances support the opening of a new charter to address the needs of displaced students who are currently not being served.”
& this, RE: an elected school board, Chicago Sun-Times, Sunday, 1/6/19: “Vallas proposed a ‘hybrid elected & appointed school board’ w/9 members…4 would be elected by the community & 5 appointed by the mayor, including the chairperson. Vallas promised one of his appointees would be recommended by the disability community. The pledge comes amidst a state takeover of the district’s special education program, which was found to be denying & delaying student services. Vallas also pledged to appoint a board member recommended by the Chicago Teachers Union, which is endorsing Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the mayor’s race.”
Wonder which candidate will be getting the Walton PAC money?!
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When our school moved from it’s 100 year old building to a new location, the art work on the walls remained closely guarded by the engineer (In Buffalo the head engineers – don’t dare call them custodians – have as much control over the school grounds as the principals have over the faculty). I’m not sure how famous the pieces were, but it made sense to me that the beautifully framed paintings remained with the building.
However, a couple of years ago that building was sold (so sad, it had a glorious view) to be renovated as condos. I wonder if those paintings were part of the sale price?
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