The Art of the Steal Page #11

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But in order to show

that you're a public charity,

you have to be getting money

from the public.

- The Pew Charitable Trust

at the time

was worth $4 billion.

Who in their right mind

is gonna give money

to a $4 billion foundation?

- Apparently, for some reason,

Governor Rendell

has taken the position

that this is

an important project

for the city of Philadelphia

and has allocated $25 million

of taxpayer money

out of that $100 million

authorization for the project.

- One of the neat things

if you're a public charity is,

you can administer money

from all sorts of places,

including the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania.

Pew gets credit for that as,

"We raised public money."

That counts towards

their tax status.

I'm not quite so naive

as to believe

that no one knew about

$107 million.

Maybe it was a typo.

I don't know.

But she didn't know anything

about this.

- People involved

in the takeover

of the Barnes Foundation

knew that it was there

and kept that information

from the court.

- Is that a linchpin?

Yeah.

It's like, what are

the surrounding circumstances

that should have been brought

to the attention of this judge?

If I had been a judge,

which probably

no one would like,

I would have, if I had learned

about this, I'd say,

"You know what?

"These proceedings

are recessed.

"The parties should

go figure out how to get

a piece of that money to keep it

right here."

- If I was Judge Ott,

I'd be furious.

I'd be looking for a way

to turn this thing around.

Because he got taken for a ride.

I don't know many judges

that like to get duped

in their courtrooms.

I don't know many judges

that like to be made fools of.

Judge Ott was made a fool of

by these people.

(birds chirping)

- So you see all these

interlocking relationships,

and if I were

a conspiratorial figure,

I'd think an enormous conspiracy

is at work here,

of moneyed interests

to have their will,

to have their way,

to manipulate the treasury

of the State of Pennsylvania,

to manipulate the legal system

of Pennsylvania,

to manipulate Dr. Barnes'

desires and wishes,

to manipulate

Lincoln University,

to play on this needy

little college

so desperate for money

and know that $50 million would

blind their eyes

to what was really

in their grasp.

- I just think they wanted

to capture the prize,

and the whole establishment

mobilized to that end.

They don't like to have

the whole thing questioned.

I think they're used

to getting their way,

and this is the way,

and if you question it,

you're standing in the way.

- If any major figure within

the Philadelphia art world

wanted to speak

against this idea,

they could kiss the

Pew Charitable Trust good-bye.

They could kiss

the Lenfest Foundation good-bye.

They could kiss the

Annenberg Foundation good-bye.

Perhaps they could kiss

their own job good-bye.

No one could speak.

- Yeah, but the news is

in here, right?

- Sir, that's all I'm asking.

- I'm asking--

I'm just asking a question.

- And I'm telling

you an answer.

- You're not giving me

an answer.

Are news crews allowed in

or no?

- If the news

are allowed in, though,

and we are part of the press,

then we should be allowed inside

with the rest of the press.

- No, no, those press

are invited; you are not.

- Right,

they're invited guests.

- So even though the mayor's

office said it was

open to the press

and that we could come...

- You're not invited.

Please step out of...

Please step out.

- People in museums in New York,

in San Francisco,

in Chicago and Dallas

and other places

didn't say a goddamn word

while all this was going on.

I think they were scared.

They were frightened

of these foundations

who are benevolent

and give great sums of money

to all kinds of causes.

Some of them have supported

the NAACP.

And I've often wondered

if I'm not endangering

my organization

by complaining about

their bad behavior in this case.

- You know, I'm afraid.

I realize I'm putting some part

of my life and my livelihood

at risk by doing this.

I don't know how they would

come after me,

but if they wanted to,

you know,

they can make anybody's life

difficult that they want to.

- The forces that, in effect,

are keeping the Barnes hostage

are almost overwhelming.

You could ask

the simple question,

"Who speaks for the art

or the legacy of Dr. Barnes

"when so many powerful political

and economic forces

are at work against it? "

- (clears throat)

(ignition starts)

(soft piano music)

(Music continues)

- Yeah, it's a big day.

Today's oral arguments,

which means what--

what both sides

have already said

to the judge in writing

they're gonna repeat,

you know, in front of him.

And he'll decide

whether to grant our petition

and convene some hearings

to decide whether

the Barnes Foundation

should still be permitted

to move downtown,

or he'll pretty much,

in essence,

throw us out of court,

and that will be bad news.

(Music continues)

- It's all

in Stanley Ott's hands.

If Stanley wants to undo it,

he can undo it.

He can say that he was given

a lot of baloney

the first time through

and the record

can now be set straight

and it deserves

to be set straight.

And I think he's a good enough

judge to make that decision.

- We have an obligation to do

what Dr. Barnes

wanted us to do,

and I think that's the essence

of this whole thing,

that not enough was done

to fully explore

what can be done

to keep the Barnes where it is.

Some people, like the Friends

of the Barnes,

aren't gonna let that happen,

and hopefully,

they'll be successful.

- Unfortunately,

the thing has gotten to be

a big political football,

and it never should have

gotten there.

- In that sense, Richard Glanton

was absolutely right.

Glanton said, when I asked him

what it's all about, he said,

"It's about who controls

$41/2 billion worth of art,

and everything else

is bullshit."

Well, no, Richard was wrong.

It's about who controls

$25 billion worth of art,

and everything else

is bullshit.

(Music continues)

(birds chirping)

(traffic whooshes)

- Well, Wednesday night,

I got home

and there was an email

on my computer,

the subject heading

that Judge Ott

had issued his decision.

He apparently has decided

that he's not going to conduct--

he's not going to investigate

any of the...

any of the matters

that our petition brought

to the court's attention.

He had declined

to order new hearings

by declaring that none

of the petitioners,

that is, the Friends

of the Barnes Foundation

and Montgomery County,

had standing to intervene

in the matter.

(drill whirs)

(siren blares)

I don't think that the judge

or the trustees

of the Barnes Foundation

or anybody who's

supporting the move,

who sincerely supports the move

of the gallery art to downtown,

that they understand what it is

that they're doing.

It'll be a tragedy,

and it'll be

a tragedy long remembered.

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