After the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington alarmed fans of its spectacular Beaux-Arts home near the White House by announcing this summer that it was considering a relocation, the board said on Monday that its members had decided against a move. According to a news release, the board voted on Dec. 5 to “now focus only on approaches that keep the museum in the building,†including the possibility of a collaboration with another “like-minded institution.â€
The need for $130 million worth of renovations on the Corcoran's 17th Street building is what precipitated the idea of a sale and a move of the museum and its associated College of Art and Design. Harry Hopper, the chairman of the board, told the Washington Post that “the process of publicly exploring this idea has generated not only noise and indigestion, it has also generated an inflow of opportunities and information.†The Post mentioned George Washington University and the National Gallery of Art as potential partners.
Save the Corcoran, a group that sprang up to oppose the move, applauded the announcement, saying it hopes to work with the museum's leadership as it faces “several critically important decisions over the next several months about the future of this great institution.â€
Those decisions include what will happen to the school, which sorely needs space. The Corcoran's announcement did not specifically mention where the college would be located.
