Art sale dispute heads to Massachusetts’ highest court

Exterior of Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Mass. Image by Berkshiremuseum, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

BOSTON (AP) – The battle over the proposed sale of dozens of works of art by a Massachusetts museum is headed to the state’s highest court.

A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to hear from both sides of the dispute Tuesday.

The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield says it needs to sell the 40 pieces of art, including works by Norman Rockwell, to stay open and refocus its mission.

Several people opposed to the sale say the art is a public resource.

Lawyers for both sides will be given 10 minutes to speak to the court.

The museum last month won the support of Attorney General Maura Healey to petition the court for permission to allow the sale, expected to raise up to $60 million.

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