CORRECTION APPENDED

A local university’s decision to sell a prized collection of modern art works by artists including Warhol, de Kooning, and Lichtenstein has ignited a firestorm of controversy that may prompt administrators to keep the art.

Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz announced in an e-mail to students Monday that the university would sell the collection of its Rose Art Museum in a public auction to ease a budget strained by the ongoing financial crisis.

The artwork was last valued at $35 million a few years ago, according to Reinharz’s statement. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

But after the decision drew outrage from students and professors, Reinharz released a second statement Tuesday indicating the board of trustees might keep the collection, but that it would still close the museum and turn the space into a study and research center.

Opponents of a sale protested yesterday by holding a sit-in at the museum that was organized by the Brandeis Budget Cut Committee, a student organization founded last month to protest what organizers call the administration’s policy of making decisions without first consulting students and faculty.

The sit-in drew over 100 members of the student body and faculty, according ot Rebecca Ulm, a studio arts and art history major at Brandeis who helped plan the event.

“It’s the transparency issue, the fact that no one was consulted, neither students nor faculty,” Ulm said. “They just informed us of the decision unilaterally.”

A spokeswoman for Brandeis did not return requests for comment yesterday.

Opponents’ efforts were not confined to the sit-in.

Students and alumni have also created online petitions to raise awareness about the university’s decision.

The most prominent Web site, savetheroseart.org, currently has over 3,621 signatures and has raised close to $7,000 in pledges, often through small contributions by students and alumni.

Students complained that the controversial decision was made without student input at a board meeting attended only by administrators and the board of trustees.

“By making this decision the administration seems to be dismissing its value,” said Elia Dota, a senior art history major and head of the Student Committee for the Rose Art Museum. “What they don’t get is that the museum is an integral part of academics and an integral part of the discourse in an academic setting.”

Other critics of the decision argued that it would be difficult for the university to be fully compensated for the works.

“The worth of the collection cannot be measured. There’s no way to recover it once its gone. You can build other programs up, but something like the collection is gone forever, once its gone,” said Emily Mollo, director of education for the museum.

—Staff writer Emily J. Hogan can be reached at ejhogan@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION

The Jan. 30 News article "Protesters Oppose Brandeis Art Sale" incorrectly stated that the Rose Art Museum's collection had last been valued at $35 million. In fact, the collection had been valued at $350 million.