Philadelphia's New Jewel: The Barnes, Part 3
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jay Raymond -- a former Barnes Foundation student, teacher, and one of the original people who filed a lawsuit against the move of the collection from Merion to Philadelphia -- says the new Barnes on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway "desecrates a world treasure."
"If you think of it (the Merion campus) as a work of art, and sort of think of the paintings as jewels and the gardens as the setting, what's happened now is that these jewels have been removed from its setting," Raymond says.
A judge ruled in 2004 that the foundation, which had been struggling financially, could move from Merion to Museum Row in Philadelphia. Raymond contends it violated Barnes' will, which specified that the collection should remain untouched in the building Barnes had designed.
"To me it's like the fable of the goose who laid the golden eggs. We have the golden eggs but we no longer have the goose," Raymond tells KYW Newsradio.
He says having the Barnes five miles from the original setting will not be the personal vision that Dr. Albert Barnes created in the 1920s.
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Listen to KYW Newsradio 1060 all week long for more on the new Barnes Museum, opening May 19th on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
And listen on Friday, May 18th, as KYW Newsradio broadcasts "Reporters Roundup," live from the Barnes, 12 noon to 1pm!
