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Katie and Steve update listeners on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision approving the settlement reached between the Attorney General and the Berkshire Museum, which allows the Museum to sell 40 of its most valuable works of art through Sotheby’s with some (minor) conditions. Katie and Steve go over the terms of the settlement and discuss their reservations about the form (if not substance) of this resolution. Since the recording of this bonus episode, it has been reported that the yet to open Lucas Museum in Los Angeles will purchase the painting Shuffleton’s Barbershop, Norman Rockwell’s iconic masterpiece. The rest of the works will be sold gradually at auction until a total of $55 million in proceeds is reached. Memorandum of Decision Resources: https://berkshiremuseum.org/newvision/ago-summary/ http://lucasmuseum.org/news/lucas-museum-announces-acquisition-norman-rockwells-shuffletons-barbershop Bonus Episode Transcription Katie Wilson-Milne: So, Steve, we’re back to give our listeners an update on the Berkshire Museum saga. On April 5th, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued a decision in response to the Attorney General and museum’s cy près deviation petition asking for permission from the court for the museum to sell 40 valuable works of its art through Sotheby's to raise an excess of 50 million dollars for its New Vision Plan. And so now we know what the court has to say about that. Steve Schindler: Right and what the court has to say, if you could sum it up, is whatever the Attorney General said. Katie Wilson-Milne: That's right. That's the theme of this mini episode. Steve Schindler: And even though this is a decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it's worth noting that it's a decision that was made by a single justice presiding over the court to hear this dispute. Katie Wilson-Milne: And it wasn't like there was a full trial or witnesses presented before the court. There were briefs that were submitted. There were amici briefs from the plaintiffs in the civil cases, which we talked about on our earlier episode, but really there's just the cy près deviation petition, a brief from the Attorney General and the museum, and then the court had a hearing where the lawyers could present arguments but that was it. Steve Schindler: And after the hearing Judge Lowy issued his decision, which was as I said, to essentially adopt the position of the museum as joined by the Attorney General and just to outline that very quickly: so, the court's ruling really comes in two parts. The first is for the sale of Shuffleton's Barbershop and then the second is for the sale of the remaining 39 works that the museum would like to sell. And so with Shuffleton's Barbershop the requirements are that the work go to a 501(c)(3) museum and that that museum has to agree to loan the work for between 18 and 24 months to the Norman Rockwell Museum. There are a couple of other conditions which are a little less -- Katie Wilson-Milne: Clear. Steve Schindler: Or specific. Katie Wilson-Milne: Or firm. Steve Schindler: Or enforceable. Which basically says that, you know, following the loan to the Norman Rockwell Museum, the buyer of Shuffleton's Barbershop will explore, are the court's words, the possibility of loaning the work to other museums in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and then the last requirement, or at least suggestion, is that the buyer of the work will ultimately display Shuffleton's Barbershop in what the court says is a place of prominence within its museum, which I suppose is also up to the museum, and that that museum will consider periodically loaning the work to other museums in Berkshire County, So, I think it's fair to say that Shuffleton's Barbershop has to be sold to a museum and that museum has to agree to loan it to the Norman Rockwell Museum...