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It was

VOTED that the Board of Regents authorizes the Secretary to conclude an agreement with [the owner] to secure his collection for the National Museum of African Art, said agreement to entail purchasing a third of the collection this fiscal year, with options to purchase the remainder at a fixed price through December 31, 1986, for a total of 100M Belgian francs.

[[underlined]] George Eastman House Proposal [[/underlined]]

Mr. Adams noted that the Trustees of the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House continued to attempt to find a means of providing adequate care for their collections while keeping them in Rochester. In mid-March, a consortium of Rochester organizations (the Rochester Institute of Technology, George Eastman House, the University of Rochester, and SUNY Brockport), each concerned with the future of the Museum, proposed the following to the Smithsonian Institution:

1. That a new $4 to 5 million building be built to house the collection in Rochester, with construction funding provided by the State of New York and community.

2. That governance of the new museum be vested in a board with representation from each member institution of the consortium, including the Smithsonian.

3. That the collection be given by George Eastman House to the Smithsonian Institution which would, in return, assume responsibility for the remote curation and exhibition of those materials.

In response, the Under Secretary pledged to bring this matter to the Board's attention at its May meeting.

In a subsequent development, on April 18 the Kodak Company announced that it would donate a building valued at $13 to 15 million to establish an endowment for the International Museum of Photography to ensure that the Museum's collections and facilities remain in Rochester. Since then the Chairman of the Board of Trustees has written to the Secretary withdrawing the Board's earlier proposal but still suggesting some type of affiliation between the Smithsonian and the George Eastman House. As proposed, this affiliation might take the form of exhibitions or shared technology in the areas of photographic conservation and videodisc, for example. Any such arrangement will be brought to the Regents' attention.