Each dollar pledged to build the renowned Barnes Foundation art collection a home on Philadelphia's Parkway is a vote of confidence.
To think that as many as 80 million such votes have been cast for a proposal that's been public for less than two weeks, well, that's the equivalent of a landslide victory for the plan.
Even the primary objection heard to relocating the museum from Lower Merion focuses not on the move itself. Rather, it's over the mechanics of governing the Barnes.
And so, there's every reason to believe a compromise can be worked out to move the project ahead.
The objection came last week from Lincoln University trustees, who nominate the majority of the five-member Barnes board under the terms of businessman Albert C. Barnes' will.
As Barnes officials have conceived the planned move, the board of trustees would grow to 15. That would track with other major cultural institutions, where boards are a mix of those with wealth and personal connections who can aid in fund-raising.
The university trustees' concern is that the Chester County school no longer would nominate 80 percent of the Barnes board. Instead, the plan would be for two foundations, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Lenfest Foundation, to share with Lincoln nominations to the larger board.
Should that dispute halt the important work on moving the Barnes? No. It's too easy to resolve through compromise. And, of course, the Montgomery County Orphans' Court still has to approve the entire proposal.
It is Orphans' Court, which oversees changes to the terms of the Barnes estate, that will decide whether the trustee-selection process is inviolate.
But let's say the court did rule that way. Nothing prohibits the Lincoln University trustees from naming the bulk of people to a 15-member Barnes board filled with capable fund-raisers as well as good stewards.
So it's encouraging to hear advocates of the Barnes move say they're happy to negotiate over governance. That also goes for Lincoln University trustee chair Adrienne G. Rhone, who disavows any quid pro quo for university cooperation. (Which isn't to say both school and museum shouldn't work more cooperatively.) "This is not about horse-trading," Ms. Rhone said Friday. "It's exclusively about the wishes of Dr. Barnes."
What would be the desires of the quirky art collector, who decreed precisely how his great works be displayed at his Merion estate?
Would the founder really want a hugely expensive legal fight that would consume scarce funds and doom his magnificent collection to being seen only by an elite few?
Those 80 million monetary votes of support represent public acclaim for the Barnes move. So it's vital to work out the details - like governance - and make it all happen.
