When Rich Houck arrived at the Freedman Gallery at Albright College this April, what he found shocked him: racks stripped bare, artwork gone, and no official word on what happened. A long-serving art preparator, he expected transparency—not silence. But silence, it turns out, was the plan.
Behind closed doors, Albright College had quietly begun selling off its renowned art collection—home to works by Romare Bearden, Jasper Johns, Salvador Dalí, and Robert Rauschenberg—to offset a financial crisis. The goal? Plug a $23 million budget hole. The method? Sell the very assets donors entrusted them to preserve.
But when the Freedman family—the namesake donors of the gallery—found out through a news article and not the college, they were rightfully outraged.
“We were never informed,” said Doris Freedman’s daughters.
“This sale dishonors our mother’s legacy and violates the spirit of our gift.”
A Pattern of Silence and Dismissal
- Longtime staff members were let go.
- The collections policy was scrapped.
- The gallery’s mission was erased—overnight.
One art insider said nearly half of the gallery’s 2,000+ piece collection is undocumented. Others believe the college could walk away with less than $1 million, a tiny fraction of the value—and at massive reputational cost.
Even worse? The school isn’t accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, meaning it isn’t bound by their professional standards. Yet former staff spent years preparing the collection for that very purpose.
Why This Should Alarm You:
This isn’t just about art.
It’s about the protection of donor intent, transparency in institutional decisions, and the legal obligations colleges, nonprofits, and trustees have when managing legacy gifts.
If this can happen at a well-established college with a decades-old donor relationship…
What’s protecting YOUR legacy?
Protect Your Giving, Your Family’s Wishes, and Your Impact
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✅ Concerned your past or future donations could be mishandled?
✅ Unsure if your will, trust, or endowment agreement offers real legal protection?
✅ Want to ensure your legacy lasts, not just gets liquidated?
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Your gift deserves more than silence.
It deserves protection, respect, and purpose—exactly as you intended.
Call us at (480) 719-7333. – Let’s make sure your legacy can’t be rewritten.