Here is a press release from the Barnes and our response. Since this is my blog entry, I get to go first, so you'll first see the Friends of the Barnes Foundation rsponse to the press release from the Barnes Foundation and then the press release itself announcing that they wil finally implement increases in visitation.

Our response from Aram Jerrehian, Esq.:

Friends of the Barnes on the news of the expanded visitation to the Barnes Foudatnion: “Good and it’s about time. Despite their professed financial difficulties over the past fifteen years, the Barnes Foundation never sought permission for expansion of public access from the Township of Lower Merion. The initiative for the Ordinance permitting a huge increase in visitation came solely from Friends of the Barnes Foundation. The current administration has tried to ignore that Ordinance for almost a full year. It’s interesting that the Foundation is finally implementing it just one week after our argument before Judge Ott that the current administration had rejected this simple opportunity for growth. At the time of the Ordinance and as recently as February, the Foundation insisted that no expansion would take place until after the move. We’re glad they see how absurd that policy is.

We are pleased that our work on behalf of preservation of the Barnes is having an impact and hope that this is the first step toward embracing a sensible plan for the Barnes Foundation in Merion.”

And now, here is the release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE BARNES FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES IMPLEMENTATION OF INCREASE IN DAILY ATTENDENCE LIMIT, EXPANSION OF SUMMER GALLERY ACCESS AND ADMISSION PRICE ADJUSTMENT

April 1st, 2008, Lower Merion, PA – The Barnes Foundation today announced it will increase the maximum number of visitors admitted daily from 400 persons to 450, taking advantage of an easing of restrictions imposed by Lower Merion Township Ordinance. The new policy will become effective immediately and will apply to all days that the Foundation’s galleries are open to the public.

The Barnes Foundation also announced plans to extend its days of operation during the months of July and August, when the Foundation’s education programs are not in session. The Foundation’s galleries will be open five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, beginning July 5th, 2008.

Admission cost for the Barnes Foundation will increase from $10 to $12, effective July 1, 2008. Admission pricing for K through 12 school groups will remain at $5 per person and college groups will remain at $10 per person.

About the Barnes Foundation

The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts." Currently located in a 12-acre arboretum, the Paul Cret-designed Gallery houses one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Rousseau, Modigliani, Soutine and de Chirico, as well as Old Master paintings, important examples of African sculpture and Native American ceramics, American furniture and metalwork, and antiquities from the Mediterranean region and Asia.

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