Supporters of efforts to keep the Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut open and fully functioning are planning an on-site “salute” to the museum on Saturday, October 30.
The salute will take place between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Said a statement from organizers: “Join our community of artists, educators, historians, docents and volunteers who stand ready to support all efforts to reopen the museum and short of that, to safeguard the collection.
“Our committee is committed to keeping the museum and its collection open and operating under the auspices of its parent 501(c)3, Quinnipiac University. It seeks to reverse the current board decision to close the building permanently and give the collection to another entity.
“ Should the primary mission fail, the secondary purpose is to ensure that the collection remains intact, whole, and is not broken up and sold for any profit to the university.
“The third part of the committee’s mission is to ensure the equitable and timely return of all donated gifts of art, discounted works of art, and gifts-in-kind. All donations, memberships, and fees collected since the Board of Trustees made the decision MUST be returned to the donors/members. The committee will use all ethical and legal methods possible to meet these ends.”
The committee, in a proclamation, stated that “Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University was born of a moral vision to continue the visual and artistic remembrance of the Famine.”
Organizers of the salute are stressing that they are in no way criticizing the university or any of its employees.
The salute is not a protest, they say.
“We are, simply, trying to preserve an important institution that should remain an Irish American gem.”
