K9 Protection Dogs in Reading, PA

From Juneteenth Reading, PA

Editor’s note: Due to the expected weather conditions on Saturday, June 14, the Juneteenth Community Family Barbecue is being rescheduled to Saturday, June 28, for everyone’s safety.

Juneteenth Reading, PA announces the following activities as part of its Juneteenth Holiday Celebration from Tuesday, June 10, through Thursday, June 19.

Month of June – Buy Black Initiative – Support Black-Owned Businesses

Tuesday, June 10 @ 1 p.m.

Wednesday, June 11 @ 2 p.m.

Location: Reading Public Museum, 500 Museum Road, ReadingFilm showing: “Juneteenth Faith and Freedom Documentary”Learning opportunity: Uncover the deep spiritual significance of America’s newest federal holiday with Pastor Rasool Berry. Learn how scripture inspired the faith of enslaved people, travel to the church where America’s first Juneteenth celebration took place, and uncover why newly liberated men and women credited God for their freedom. With special guests Ms. Opal Lee, Lecrae, and more, you’ll journey to Galveston, Texas, to discover a faith stronger than suffering.

Thursday, June 12 @ TBD

Location: Reading Public MuseumFilm and community conversation

Thursday, June 12 @ 2 p.m.

Location: Pendora Park, ReadingYouth intro: Olivet Boys & Girls ClubDocumentary showing: Grandmother of Juneteenth Ms. Opal Lee w/ discussion

Friday, June 13 @ noon

Location: City Park, ReadingFlag raising ceremonyPlease bring a lawn chair and water.

Friday, June 13 @ 2 p.m.

Location: Berks History Center Historical Society Museum & Henry Janssen Library, 940 Centre Ave., ReadingKickoff reception with community conversationTheme: “Across the Diaspora: Unity, Liberation, and the Global Ties That Bind Us” with a broader focus on “From Chains to Change: Honoring the Journey, Embracing the Future.”Facilitator: Dr. Joseph Amprey, Bowie State UniversityPanelist: Dr. Khalid Mumin, Superintendent, RSD; Dr. Moro Osumanu, Directory of Public Relations at the Islamic Society of Berks County; Dr. Camil Culbreath, Directory of Family & Community Engagement, RSD; Dr. Olubunmi K Ojikutu, Chair, Department of Pediatrics; and Dr. Bruce N. Alick, pastor, Zion Baptist Church

Friday, June 13 @ 5 p.m.

Location: Berks History Center Historical Society Museum & Henry Janssen Library, 940 Centre Ave., ReadingAnnouncement of freedomHistory of JuneteenthRecognition of local unsung heroes: Chosen 300, Zion Baptist Church, Hands of MercyPersonal Juneteenth experiences: videosHost: Sis. Elta Jackson-Henry, Seventh Day Rehoboth SDA Church

Sunday, June 15

Location: Holy Trinity Church of God, 130 W. Buttonwood St.Closing Celebration

Location: vicinity of Front and Buttonwood streetsCommunity prayer walk

Sunday, June 15 @ 10:15 a.m.

Morning worship

Thursday, June 19

Location: Reading Public Museum & PlanetariumFree admission

Saturday, June 28 @ noon to 6 p.m.

Location: Berks Lodge # 47, 237 Walnut St., ReadingCommunity family barbecue featuring free food and beveragesHistory of the Haitian RevolutionBlack business history tourResource information circleResource development and growthConversation topics: Visions Federal Credit Union (Financial Literacy); Albright College (Academic Experience); Nicole Kennedy, Real Estate Agency (Home Buying Programs); (Journey to Becoming); and AmeriHealth Caritas Mobile Unit (Health & Wellness)Entertainment, games, face painting, Twister, and tug of war contestsArtistic expressions by GoggleWorksStewart, Archie book exchange. Donations accepted, new and used books, culturally-appropriateFather’s Day raffleNon-perishable donations are being accepted (food bank or animal shelter)

Lauren Fichter and her husband earn about $350,000 a year. The couple own their Reading, Pa., home and a vacation property they rent out on Airbnb. Their three children play club sports, and the family often grabs takeout after games.

But when her son Dalton heads to college next year, he’ll have to tap student loans and hunt for scholarships. The couple haven’t been able to save enough to cover all of their children’s expected college expenses, which often cost around $75,000 a year per student for families at their income level.

“When I was younger, I wouldn’t even fathom making this much money,” said Fichter, 47. But today, “I feel like we’re just the normal, run-of-the-mill, middle-class family.”

Fichter’s family is well into the top tier of earners. So why don’t they feel rich?

American households that make about $250,000 or more are typically considered to be in the top 10% of earners. Many in that bracket realize that the number sounds huge—and by many measures, affluent Americans are indeed thriving. Yet the top-line figures can mask a sense of financial fragility in many high-earning families.

Years of soaring costs for housing, college, insurance and borrowing feel oppressive, even for those with hefty paychecks. They might be sitting on a mountain of home-equity gains, but that doesn’t provide a huge sense of security when companies are and it’s the rare employer that offers a guaranteed pension.

It isn’t that families making $250,000 feel poor—many make much more than their parents ever did, or much more than they themselves ever thought they would. It’s just that they don’t feel rich, either.

Fichter went back to work in sales in 2023 after 15 years as a stay-at-home mom so that the family could put away more for college. So far, they haven’t saved as much extra as they hoped.

Even though her area has relatively affordable housing, other costs feel burdensome. Her kids’ sports cost $9,000 a year. The utility bill is $500 a month, up about $200 in the past five years. Her husband tries to do home and car repairs himself but can’t do everything. They put off having their house painted after a quote came in at $10,000.

“A lot of the markers of the American dream are things that higher-income folks are still more equipped to fulfill than lower-income folks,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the closely watched consumer surveys conducted by the University of Michigan. “But houses are expensive and education is expensive.”

Only 26% of people in the top third of earners—households making about $130,000 or more—said in the three months ending in June that they were better off than a year ago, near the lowest level since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009, according to the . This group is worried about tariffs and higher costs. They’re also increasingly concerned about losing their jobs.

“Even people who are doing pretty well aren’t maybe as satisfied as we might imagine,” said Matt Killingsworth, a .

Killingsworth runs an app that asks tens of thousands of people ongoing questions about their level of happiness. More than a quarter of people whose households earn between $200,000 and $300,000 a year report that they are either “not very satisfied” or “not at all satisfied” with their financial situation, he said.

On paper, these Americans are doing great. Inflation-adjusted incomes of the top 5% rose more than 100% from 1983 to 2019, according to an analysis by Xavier Jaravel, a professor at .

While the affluent may have sticker shock from higher prices just like other Americans, inflation has actually hit them less hard because of the mix of items that they buy, Jaravel found. The rich spend a bigger share of their disposable income on cars and plane tickets, which have had relatively low inflation over time, and a smaller share on electricity and housing.

This group has also been the main beneficiary of since the pandemic, even though a lot of the increase is in retirement accounts and home values that they can’t necessarily tap easily. The net worth of the top 20% of earners has risen by more than $35 trillion, or 46%, since the end of 2019, according to Federal Reserve data.

The highest-income Americans continued to spend after the recent run of inflation, even as working-class and middle-class consumers cut back. If they too pull back, it could .

Living alongside the indisputably rich can also skew a merely affluent family’s sense of personal wealth. In the highest-cost parts of the country, a salary that just cracks the top 10% often isn’t enough to buy a home. Those are snatched up by families with IPO windfalls or inheritance money.

Even those spending freely on smaller items sometimes find bigger-ticket expenditures out of reach.

Shafonne and Jimmy Myers buy organic fruits and vegetables, even though the rising grocery bill can be hard to look at. They drive nice cars. But the couple, who earn about $350,000 a year, have rented since moving to Temecula, Calif., in 2019.

Home prices in the picturesque Southern California city are up 57% in the past five years, outpacing the national increase of 45%, according to Redfin.

The Myers family have owned homes in the past and casually browsed local properties. But they’ll likely stick with their rental, said Shafonne, who is 45 and owns a wedding media company. The couple, who have three children, would need a down payment of about $200,000 to buy something comparable to the six-bedroom house they are renting. And with mortgage rates pushing 7%, their monthly payment would likely be far more than their $3,600-a-month rent.

“I would say we’re upper middle class,” said Jimmy, who is 43 and works in logistics. “To be rich in California, you have to earn at least $1 to $2 million.”

On their cul-de-sac, in an area they picked for the schools, only a few neighbors are homeowners with small children. , with adult kids who live with them. Others are renters like the Myers family.

While 90% of households in the top 10% owned their primary residence in 2022, that is down from more than 94% in 2001, according to the Fed. Many affluent people who locked in low mortgage rates when they bought their homes years ago don’t feel like they can afford to upgrade.

Skyrocketing college costs can also weigh on affluent families. These households often find themselves in a position where they make too much to get any need-based financial aid—but not enough to easily be able to afford college. More than 17% of households in the top 10% had student debt in 2022, compared with less than 11% in 2001, according to the Fed.

Standards of living have also changed. In upper-middle-class neighborhoods, toddlers take music classes that cost $40 each and teens play pricey sports.

While well-off people are paying more in part because prices are up, part of the increase is likely because they are buying higher-quality homes and getting higher-end child care, said Scott Winship, an economist at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

Matt Dougherty lived in costly Washington, D.C., for much of his 20s. After getting married, he and his wife moved back to his hometown of Wilmington, Del., in search of a place they could afford. They emptied their savings to buy a 1,700-square-foot house in February 2021 with a 3% mortgage rate.

“I feel like I got on the last boat out,” said Dougherty, who is now 32 and works in government affairs. “I couldn’t buy my home today mainly because of the interest rates” and higher prices.

But life in Wilmington hasn’t been as cheap as they expected. The couple bring in about $208,000 a year, which translates to about $11,800 a month in take-home pay. Taken together, the mortgage, groceries, daycare for the baby and 3-year-old, and other recurring costs run $9,000 a month. When the family got saddled with thousands of dollars in medical bills from their daughters’ births, they sold some bitcoin and stocks held in a brokerage account to pay them.

People in his parents’ generation would consider a family earning as much as they do rich, Dougherty said. But he sees it differently. “I had to get there to give my children the upbringing that I had, which was a middle, upper-middle-class, suburban childhood,” he said.

READING — Albright College will auction most of its artwork in July as the private liberal arts school continues to address a deficit.

But what that collection includes, how much it might be worth, and what pieces hold local and regional significance remain unclear.

College administrators and auctioneers did not answer a Spotlight PA inquiry seeking an estimated value for the 2,008 works in Albright’s collection, most of which are works on paper and not expected to yield “significant financial return,” a college spokesperson said. Reading Public Museum, which has been in talks with Albright since late last year, wouldn’t say what pieces it might acquire.

The artwork hasn’t been properly stored, which has compromised some of the pieces, said James Gaddy, vice president of administration at Albright. But he would not say how many pieces have been damaged. Administrators and the auction company continue to comb the collection to determine what will be sold.

The collection going to auction from Albright’s Freedman Gallery was founded and funded by alum Doris C. Freedman, and opened on the college’s campus in 1976, featuring work by 25 artists including Nancy Grossman, Sylvia Stone, Sam Francis, and Ben Schonzeit. The gallery primarily displayed contemporary work by American artists, and over the years amassed a collection of prints, photographs, paintings, and sculptures.

Albright no longer has historical information about the gallery on its website, which now has a note announcing the college’s plan to “part with its institutional art collection.”

An Artstor directory of the Freedman Gallery collection lists over 1,000 items, including work by Salvador Dali, Ronald Abram, Yaacov Agam, William Henry Johnson, Robert Bolles, and Alice Baber. One piece by Baber, The Light of the River, was sold for $25,400 to an undisclosed buyer in 2024 through Freeman’s Auction House in Philadelphia.

Gaddy said the auction of the remaining pieces will serve as the “primary mechanism” to sell the college’s art collection, which has become untenable for the school to maintain as it grapples with a multimillion-dollar deficit.

Pook & Pook in Downingtown will host an in-person gallery exhibition from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 14 and 15. The auction will also be hosted online at 9 a.m. July 16. The auctioneer said they were still evaluating the art collection to determine what would be offered, and could not provide a dollar value on the possible available pieces.

In response to emailed questions from Spotlight PA, Gaddy said one of the primary reasons for auctioning off the collection is its lack of maintenance, which has made it difficult to find a museum that would accept the works, or potential buyers.

“The collection has not been cared for in a manner consistent with professional museum standards for several years, due to limited institutional resources,” he wrote. “In some cases, this lack of proper care has unfortunately compromised the condition of the artwork.”

Last year, Albright College cut 53 positions, canceled some academic majors, and sold property and artwork to close a $20 million deficit. The college in December also received permission to borrow up to $25 million of its endowment fund to prevent “the risk of closure.”

Despite the bleak picture painted in legal documents granting Albright access to its endowment, administrators told Reading City Council in February that the college had no plans to close and would be budget-neutral by the summer.

“To Albright’s credit, we have been proactively addressing challenges, and there are no plans to close,” Thomas Chaves, the college’s vice president of advancement, told Reading officials. “The college did operate with two years of operating deficits, but as I will share in more detail here, we have right-sized Albright, so that this year we are forecasting a budget-neutral, if not budget-positive, outcome for the year based on the steps we have taken.”

After publication of this story, Larry Bomback, vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Albright, provided Spotlight PA with updated, unaudited figures for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which show a roughly $11 million operating deficit.

Future of the gallery

Albright’s approach to selling the collection has ruffled the local and regional art community as well as Albright’s donors.

Proponents of the college art collections say students’ exposure to the arts makes them well-rounded and enriches their lives by challenging their thinking and expanding their minds.

Jaap van Liere, chair of the college’s Visual Arts Committee that was dissolved in 2024, said he understands that Albright is financially strapped and the administration is making “tough decisions,” but thinks selling the art collection won’t make much money.

“I don’t support it because I don't think it's worthwhile,” the Albright alum told Spotlight PA in a recent phone interview. “There are expenses attached to maintaining a collection and [the college is] prioritizing where those expenses lay in their game plan to survive. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the collection to stay and enrich college students.”

From the outset, administrators acknowledged selling Albright’s art collection won’t yield a windfall.

What artwork Reading Public Museum might acquire also remains unclear despite Albright acknowledging plans last year to work with the institution to offload some of the collection.

Reading Public Museum Director and CEO Geoffrey Fleming said the museum hasn’t made any final decisions on artwork from Albright, but they hope those discussions “may lead to a positive outcome for Albright and the greater Reading community.”

Some works won’t be sold, Gaddy said, because of “donor restrictions, artistic intent,” or importance to the college’s history. Artwork depicting campus life, former presidents, and other pieces notable to Albright will remain.

He said selling the artwork isn’t about making money but ensuring the pieces find “homes where they can be professionally preserved and appreciated.”

“Maintaining a collection of this size and quality requires specialized storage, climate control, conservation support, and security — resources that Albright can no longer sustain responsibly,” he continued.

When Freedman, who graduated from Albright in 1950. founded the college’s art gallery, she worked with students and faculty to cultivate the collection, van Liere said.

But when Albright began making moves to sell its art collection, the Freedman family wasn’t informed. Freedman’s three daughters told Artnet in May they were unaware of the pending sale.

The sisters called Albright’s decision to sell the collection “shortsighted and counterproductive,” and questioned the legality of the college’s efforts. They said the move guts the art collection and alters the intent of the donation to Albright.

Reached through a publicist at the Public Art Fund, a nonprofit founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman, the family said they have not connected with the college for “a conversation at length” and had no further comment.

The college’s failure to involve the Freedman family in its decision to sell the gallery collection parallels its approach to tapping its endowment fund. Donors were blindsided when Albright went to borrow against the fund earlier this year. The court’s approval also gave the college unrestricted access to scholarship funds.

An Albright spokesperson said in an email that officials “recognize that communication could have been better,” and that the college’s advancement team is “actively reaching out to donors” now.

Gaddy said the gallery remains a “vital part” of the college, but did not say whether the Freedman family was consulted prior to Albright’s efforts to sell its artwork.

“In keeping with the initial establishment of the Freedman Gallery, it will continue to serve as a creative and educational space for student, faculty, and visiting artist exhibitions — a core part of our academic and community engagement efforts,” Gaddy said.

Van Liere was less certain about the future of the college’s gallery and hoped for the best.

“All of that is very much now in limbo, and one doesn’t really know what the future bodes,” he said. “One hopes that the future bodes [for] an ongoing Freedman Gallery exhibition and program.”

Update: This story was updated to clarify that the in-person event at Pook & Pook is an exhibition. The auction is only online.

Additionally, it was updated post-publication with new information from Albright about its deficit.

Premier Assisted Stretching Franchise Welcomes Newest Location Under Local Leadership

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Following the personal recommendations of some friends who were members of a Stretch Zone studio, Devvin became interested and was curious about practitioner-assisted stretching. Being a martial art instructor for 10 years, he firsthand understood the need and the benefits of mobility training. He wanted to learn how assisted stretching could enhance the efficiency of his training. Although there was no studio in his immediate community, he took it upon himself to drive to the closest studio and complete his complimentary stretch. That experience sparked an immediate interest in the service, and with further research, Devvin learned to appreciate the simple business model and turnkey process to own a studio. "After my first stretch, I noticed an immediate difference, enough to make me feel the value of assisted stretching compared to mobility training on your own," says Devvin. "This perspective on wellness is not always accessible for those looking to prioritize mobility and movement. Having this service in the Reading community will allow not only athletes like myself to improve their training, but also for the everyday person who wants to move through their life without fear of injury".

Stretch Zone provides a unique approach to improving mobility, offering customized stretching plans designed to meet the specific needs and goals of our members. The opening of this West Reading location represents the continued growth of Stretch Zone's presence, bringing this premium wellness service to a vibrant and historic area. "Reading is such a wonderful area that doesn't get the attention it deserves. There is so much opportunity here in the health & wellness space," shares Devvin. "Stretch Zone gives people the space to build healthy habits around mobility, and I find joy in knowing that this concept will encourage others to pursue a better livelihood by moving more and staying active."

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Stretch Zone West Reading is located at 82 Commerce Drive, Wyomissing, PA, 19610. Operating hours are M-F 8am-8pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am-5pm. The studio phone number is (484) 229-7305. The first visit is free for any new Stretch Zone member. For more information, visit www.stretchzone.com.

About Stretch ZoneFounded in 2004 by Jorden Gold, Stretch Zone was created with a deep passion for improving lives. The brand has redefined how we approach stretching, with a mission to enhance the quality of life in communities nationwide. By utilizing our proprietary tables and patented strapping system, Stretch Zone helps individuals achieve long-term results in flexibility and mobility. With over 380 locations across 41 states, the brand has experienced remarkable growth and continues to gain national recognition, ranking on the 2024 Inc. 5000 and Franchise Times' 2024 Top 400 List. Stretch Zone is seeking experienced franchisees who share a passion for health and wellness and are dedicated to making a lasting impact on their communities. To learn more, visit stretchzone.com

Media Contact:Stephanie Hall, Pitch Public Relations[email protected]

SOURCE Stretch Zone

Story by Amanda Fries of Spotlight PA Berks Bureau

This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks.

READING — Albright College will auction most of its artwork in July as the private liberal arts school continues to address a growing deficit.

But what that collection includes, how much it might be worth, and what pieces hold local and regional significance remain unclear.

College administrators and auctioneers did not answer a Spotlight PA inquiry seeking an estimated value for the 2,008 works in Albright’s collection, most of which are works on paper and not expected to yield “significant financial return,” a college spokesperson said. Reading Public Museum, which has been in talks with Albright since late last year, wouldn’t say what pieces it might acquire.

The artwork hasn’t been properly stored, which has compromised some of the pieces, said James Gaddy, vice president of administration at Albright. But he would not say how many pieces have been damaged. Administrators and the auction company continue to comb the collection to determine what will be sold.

The collection going to auction from Albright’s Freedman Gallery was founded and funded by alum Doris C. Freedman, and opened on the college’s campus in 1976, featuring work by 25 artists, including Nancy Grossman, Sylvia Stone, Sam Francis, and Ben Schonzeit. The gallery primarily displayed contemporary work by American artists, and over the years amassed a collection of prints, photographs, paintings, and sculptures.

Albright no longer has historical information about the gallery on its website, which now has a note announcing the college’s plan to “part with its institutional art collection.”

An Artstor directory of the Freedman Gallery collection lists over 1,000 items, including work by Salvador Dali, Ronald Abram, Yaacov Agam, William Henry Johnson, Robert Bolles, and Alice Baber. One piece by Baber, The Light of the River, was sold for $25,400 to an undisclosed buyer in 2024 through Freeman’s Auction House in Philadelphia.

Gaddy said the auction of the remaining pieces will serve as the “primary mechanism” to sell the college’s art collection, which has become untenable for the school to maintain as it grapples with a multimillion-dollar deficit.

Pook & Pook in Downingtown will host the auction in person from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 14 and 15. The auction will also be hosted online at 9 a.m. July 16. The auctioneer said they were still evaluating the art collection to determine what would be offered, and could not provide a dollar value on the available pieces.

In response to emailed questions from Spotlight PA, Gaddy said one of the primary reasons for auctioning off the collection is its lack of maintenance, which has made it difficult to find a museum that would accept the works or potential buyers.

“The collection has not been cared for in a manner consistent with professional museum standards for several years, due to limited institutional resources,” he wrote. “In some cases, this lack of proper care has unfortunately compromised the condition of the artwork.”

Last year, Albright College cut 53 positions, canceled some academic majors, and sold property and artwork to close a $20 million deficit. The college in December also received permission to borrow up to $25 million of its endowment fund to prevent “the risk of closure.”

Despite the bleak picture painted in legal documents granting Albright access to its endowment, administrators told Reading City Council in February that the college had no plans to close and would be budget-neutral by the summer.

“To Albright’s credit, we have been proactively addressing challenges, and there are no plans to close,” Thomas Chaves, the college’s vice president of advancement, told Reading officials. “The college did operate with two years of operating deficits, but as I will share in more detail here, we have right-sized Albright, so that this year we are forecasting a budget-neutral, if not budget-positive, outcome for the year based on the steps we have taken.”

Future of the gallery

Albright’s approach to selling the collection has ruffled the local and regional art community as well as Albright’s donors.

Proponents of the college art collections say students’ exposure to the arts makes them well-rounded and enriches their lives by challenging their thinking and expanding their minds.

Jaap van Liere, chair of the college’s Visual Arts Committee that was dissolved in 2024, said he understands that Albright is financially strapped and the administration is making “tough decisions,” but thinks selling the art collection won’t make much money.

“I don’t support it because I don’t think it’s worthwhile,” the Albright alum told Spotlight PA in a recent phone interview. “There are expenses attached to maintaining a collection and [the college is] prioritizing where those expenses lay in their game plan to survive. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the collection to stay and enrich college students.”

From the outset, administrators acknowledged selling Albright’s art collection won’t yield a windfall.

What artwork the Reading Public Museum might acquire also remains unclear despite Albright acknowledging plans last year to work with the institution to offload some of the collection.

Reading Public Museum Director and CEO Geoffrey Fleming said the museum hasn’t made any final decisions on artwork from Albright, but they hope those discussions “may lead to a positive outcome for Albright and the greater Reading community.”

Some works won’t be sold, Gaddy said, because of “donor restrictions, artistic intent,” or importance to the college’s history. Artwork depicting campus life, former presidents, and other pieces notable to Albright will remain.

He said selling the artwork isn’t about making money but ensuring the pieces find “homes where they can be professionally preserved and appreciated.”

“Maintaining a collection of this size and quality requires specialized storage, climate control, conservation support, and security — resources that Albright can no longer sustain responsibly,” he continued.

When Freedman, who graduated from Albright in 1950. founded the college’s art gallery, she worked with students and faculty to cultivate the collection, van Liere said.

But when Albright began making moves to sell its art collection, the Freedman family wasn’t informed. Freedman’s three daughters told Artnet in May they were unaware of the pending sale.

The sisters called Albright’s decision to sell the collection “shortsighted and counterproductive,” and questioned the legality of the college’s efforts. They said the move guts the art collection and alters the intent of the donation to Albright.

Reached through a publicist at the Public Art Fund, a nonprofit founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman, the family said they have not connected with the college for “a conversation at length” and had no further comment.

The college’s failure to involve the Freedman family in its decision to sell the gallery collection parallels its approach to tapping its endowment fund. Donors were blindsided when Albright went to borrow against the fund earlier this year. The court’s approval also gave the college unrestricted access to scholarship funds.

An Albright spokesperson said in an email that officials “recognize that communication could have been better,” and that the college’s advancement team is “actively reaching out to donors” now.

Gaddy said the gallery remains a “vital part” of the college, but did not say whether the Freedman family was consulted prior to Albright’s efforts to sell its artwork.

“In keeping with the initial establishment of the Freedman Gallery, it will continue to serve as a creative and educational space for student, faculty, and visiting artist exhibitions — a core part of our academic and community engagement efforts,” Gaddy said.

Van Liere was less certain about the future of the college’s gallery and hoped for the best.

“All of that is very much now in limbo, and one doesn’t really know what the future bodes,” he said. “One hopes that the future bodes [for] an ongoing Freedman Gallery exhibition and program.”

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