Corcoran Gallery of Art

The university and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington’s oldest private art museum, have agreed to explore a partnership that would enable the two institutions to collaborate and share resources.

If the university and the Corcoran ultimately decide to enter into a “mutually beneficial” partnership, the university would have access to the Corcoran’s collection of more than 17,000 pieces of art, providing a boost to this university’s arts education and exhibits, university President Wallace Loh said. The Corcoran also runs the Corcoran College of Art + Design, a professional art school with about 550 undergraduate and graduate students.

“If all of a sudden you have access to one of the finest art collections in all of the United States, that is totally transformative,” Loh said, adding the partnership could be bigger and more impactful than the university’s move to the Big Ten.

The museum has faced financial trouble for several years and even explored selling its more than 100-year-old Beaux-Arts building, which sits on 17th Street across from the White House. The Corcoran needs approximately $130 million to bring it up to modern museum standards, but even then, it still wouldn’t be enough to properly display the art and support the college.

A partnership would mean new courses and joint degrees for university students, faculty and staff affiliates, as well as joint appointments and other new, innovative programs, a written agreement between the two institutions states. And a partnership has the ability to dramatically enhance the stature of all university departments, as the university would have a strong presence in Washington, said David Cronrath, architecture school dean.

Partnering with the Corcoran would help make this university a more well-rounded institution known not only for its science and engineering programs, but its arts programs as well, said Bonnie Thornton Dill, arts and humanities college dean.

“It would heighten the importance of the arts as part of a total educational package,” Thorton Dill said. “We have a lot of strength in some areas of the sciences, great strength in the performing arts — this would heighten the visual arts so it would give us a more balanced profile.”

Students, faculty, staff and community members will be encouraged to attend forums and discussions to determine whether the university should enter the partnership, Loh said. Provost Mary Ann Rankin will also lead a commission to study the potential partnership. Both the university and the Corcoran have until the end of the summer to decide on the move.

“The Corcoran is a tremendously important museum in the United States,” Cronrath said. “Having those assets readily available for our students and the prospect of our students interacting with design and fine arts students at Corcoran could lead to some pretty wonderful and exciting opportunities.”

The Corcoran’s 126,000-square-foot building only has room to display less than 3 percent of the museum’s art collection. All art in storage would be available for the university to use.

As part of the partnership’s conditions, the university will propose candidates for Corcoran’s board of trustees and board chair. The candidates and chair must “be to the satisfaction of UMD,” according to the agreement.

If the two institutions do ultimately join forces, it will not be a merger, Loh said. Rather, “The Gallery and the College will continue as parts of an integrated whole,” the agreement states.

“We will gain a physical footprint in a historical landmark, magnifying our presence in the nation’s capital,” Loh said.

Loh also noted that few universities have similar partnerships, and none with an institution as large as the Corcoran.

If both institutions agree to move forward with the partnership, the Board of Regents — a 17-member governing body that oversees the University System of Maryland — and the Corcoran Board of Trustees must endorse it.

While talks are still in preliminary stages, Thornton Dill said the partnership could signal a new era in the university, one in which students are presented with numerous, progressive opportunities.

“It represents the possibilities of a great opportunity for the college,” she said. “I’m excited that we’re on the brink of exploring this in greater depth to see what it really could provide.”

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