To Baltimore County Council members, philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff?s desire to transform his Phoenix home into an art museum is a good reason to change county law.
To Meyerhoff?s neighbors, the proposed bill to allow Meyerhoff to display his $100 million art collection is an “embarrassment.”
Charlotte Pine, president of the Long Green Valley Association, said the legislation “raises red flags” in allowing museums with more than $20 million collections to operate in areas zoned for preservation.
“The bill itself was written for one wealthy individual,” Pine told the council at a Tuesday work session in Towson.
Six of seven council members are sponsoring the bill ? all except the councilman in whose district the museum would operate, Bryan McIntire, R-District 3.
“It?s a cultural benefit to the county without additional expense,” said council Chairman Kevin Kamenetz, D- District 2.
Meyerhoff said he began collecting art in 1958, when his wife, Jane, fell sick with polio and began studying the subject. Their collection now numbers about 125 works, with pieces from major post-World War II American artists including Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella and Roy Liechtenstein.
“It was something she and I enjoyed,” Meyerhoff said.
In 1986, the Meyerhoffs agreed to donate their collection to the National Gallery of Art upon their deaths. The gallery?s Earl Powell called the works “one of the preeminent collections of modern art in the world.”
The Meyerhoffs? 300-acre Fitzhugh Farm that houses most of the artwork is used for raising racehorses ? and is hardly a sign of large development or urban sprawl, said Don Mohler, a spokesman for Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith.
“If you went there looking for a museum, you would think you were lost,” Mohler said.
Leaders of the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum have joined the National Gallery in asking the council to approve the bill.
But Carol Trela, secretary of the Long Green Valley Association, said county council members are behaving “like pre-teens at a Hannah Montana concert” in swooning over Meyerhoff.
“Sadly, some council members have behaved badly and embarrassed themselves by pimping for a special interest,” Trela said.
The council will likely approve the bill when members vote March 3.
