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Boys Scouts art collection coming in 2020

65 original Rockwell works, others to be displayed at Howland museum

Staff photo / R. Michael Semple From left, Howland attorney Ned Gold, Beth Kotwis Carmichael, Trumbull County Tourism Bureau executive director, and Foundation Medici board member John A. Anderson stand in the currently empty Howland museum that will display original works by Norman Rockwell and other pieces from the art collection belonging to the Boy Scouts of America.

HOWLAND — Be prepared: The Boy Scouts of America art collection is coming to the Mahoning Valley.

An agreement was signed Tuesday between the BSA and Foundation Medici for custodianship of an art collection that includes 65 original Norman Rockwell works as part of its 350-plus items.

“Dec. 10 at at 3:10 p.m. was a pretty bright moment,” said Howland attorney Ned Gold.

Arrangements are in the works to transport the collection from Texas, where it is in storage. The name of the new museum and other details should be in place in time for a news conference planned for January.

Gold was active in negotiating the original agreement to bring the BSA collection to the Howland museum at 9350 E. Market St. when it was the Butler Institute of American Art Trumbull Branch. The Butler’s board of trustees voted in December 2018 to table that agreement.

That decision followed a Wall Street Journal story that reported the BSA was exploring all options, including filing for bankruptcy, to protect itself from the potential lawsuits that could happen as states lengthen and eliminate the statute of limitations on sexual assault claims.

Louis A. Zona, executive director of the Butler, said in January the museum was hesitant to spend the money to transport the collection to the Mahoning Valley and insure it, only for the BSA to sell it in a bankruptcy liquidation. He also expressed apprehension about displaying Boy Scout-themed art at a time when the organization was receiving such negative publicity.

Foundation Medici, which provided the land and the bulk of the funding to build the museum that opened in 1996, gave the Butler six months notice in June that it was terminating the operating agreement with the Youngstown museum.

Medici board member John A. Anderson announced plans to continue pursuing the BSA collection in June, but Gold said he got the impression the deal was dead when he attended the Boy Scouts’ Jamboree in July in West Virginia. Gold decided to write one more letter, arguing that it was in the best interests of everyone for the art to be in a museum where it could be seen, instead of in storage.

“On Oct. 4, their general counsel said, ‘Let’s start negotiating.’ Believe me, I was taken aback. I’d pretty well written it off as a possibility,” Gold said.

Anderson added: “It’s a wonderful way to restart this museum.”

Anderson and Gold described the agreement with the BSA as being comparable to the terms of the original agreement with the Butler. The new museum will cover transportation costs and insurance and provide secure, climate-controlled storage for the collection.

“We will have the ability to market the collection to other museums,” Gold said. “That could be good for us because we would be able to make money off of it. That could be beneficial to all parties involved.”

Beth Kotwis Carmichael, executive director of the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau, said the prestige of the collection and its subject matter will increase the area’s desirability as a tourist destination. In addition to the Rockwells, the collection includes four works by artist / filmmaker Walt Disney and some other recognizable names in the art world.

“We’re thrilled at the work these guys have done to bring this collection here,” she said. “Our job is to welcome visitors, and we can’t wait to welcome the amount of visitors we expect it is going to draw to Trumbull County and this area.

“Our marketing focus is a 250-mile radius from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and Columbus and in between. This collection and the work of this museum is going to give our marketing efforts more of a national reach.”

The financial issues that caused the Butler board to table the plan still exist for the Boy Scouts, but Anderson said the contract was negotiated with flexibility if the BSA ultimately is forced to sell the collection.

The Butler began removing the sculptures and other permanent artwork from the building last month. The only piece of art currently in the building designed by the late Thomas Schroth is a 14-by-20-foot mural by Pierre Soulages that is made up of 294 11-by-11-inch terracotta clay tiles. A special addition was built in 2010 to accommodate the mural, which is visible from the road through a massive glass wall. Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew Logan will determine whether the mural stays in Howland or belongs to the Butler.

Anderson doesn’t want to wait for the Rockwells before reopening the museum and filling its walls with art. The BSA collection will have to be cataloged and evaluated once it is transported, which will take time. “Spring 2020” was the closest thing to a date offered for the first exhibition featuring the Rockwells.

“We are concerned about the gap from today to where we could have the Rockwells hanging,” Anderson said. “I don’t want a long gap. I want this place to be alive as soon as possible.”

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