NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Fisk University has filed notice that it intends to appeal a ruling that allows it to sell a share of its art collection for $30 million but requires most of the money to be put into an endowment to support the art.
Fisk President Hazel O’Leary said in a statement Wednesday that the $20 million the Davidson County Chancery Court would require to be placed in the endowment would far exceed the actual cost of maintaining and displaying the Stieglitz Collection when it is at the university.
She said the requirement would put the financially troubled school “in a more risky position than before” and needlessly tie up money that could be spent to attract researchers, provide scholarships or maintain campus buildings.
The university has been fighting for permission to sell a 50 percent share of its art collection, donated by the late painter Georgia O’Keeffe, to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark.