D.C. Judge OKs Corcoran Merger

A judge has approved a merger of the Corcoran Gallery of Art with the National Gallery of Art and George Washington University, the Associated Press and the Washington Business Journal report.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Okun’s ruling on Monday will effectively mean the dissolution of one of Washington’s oldest arts institutions, which has an estimated $2-billion in assets.

The planned merger calls for the National Gallery to absorb most of the Corcoran’s art at no cost to either party. George Washington University is to take over its College of Art & Design and will receive $35-million from the Corcoran—the proceeds from art it recently sold—for repairs to the Beaux Arts building, located near the White House.

GWU has offered jobs to all of the Corcoran’s full-time faculty, but about 150 jobs will likely be terminated.

Some Corcoran faculty members and students oppose the merger. A group calling itself Save the Corcoran challenged the plan in court, alleging that fiscal problems stem from financial mismanagement by trustees and that the Corcoran can still be saved.

One member of Save the Corcoran, an adjunct professor named Jayme McLellan, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month that she had been fired in retaliation.

Corcoran disputes that claim. Ms. McLellan was not fired but instead resigned in 2012 over “differences with leadership,” the institution said in a statement released Monday.

“While there was a miscommunication with Ms. McLellan because of a lack of internal systems, due to a diminished staff and finances, she was not offered a contract to teach this coming fall,” Corcoran said in an emailed statement. “Statements of retaliation are simply false.”