AN UNFLATTERING portrait of the National Gallery of Art is on exhibit before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior.
And the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, is warning gallery officials not to airbrush over evidence that it's failing to protect the nation's art treasures.Last year, the gallery asked an independent team of experts from the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers to assess the safety and security of its collection - which includes more than 75,000 works of art ranging from Picasso to van Gogh.
The evaluation team was "unanimous in its opinion that the conditions of the facilities and the organizational problems" at the gallery "threaten the security of the collection," according to a copy of APPA's report.
"You can't ignore the concerns expressed in the report," Regula said.
At a time when the new Congress is scrutinizing arts funding, President Clinton wants to boost the gallery's $55 million budget. But Regula, who holds the gallery's purse strings, said the APPA report is coloring his early impressions.
"We want to know what's happening to the money because they've been getting a substantial sum through the budget process, plus a lot of private endowment," said Regula. Last month, he sliced from this year's budget over $400,000 the gallery wanted to use to start building a multimillion-dollar sculpture garden.
APPA, a respected nonprofit organization, completed the scathing evaluation last September. It charged that the gallery's skylights and roof "leak extensively," allowing water to seep into the gallery's East and West buildings.
The buildings' heating and cooling system was assailed for temperature and humidity malfunctions that "could easily exceed poorly trained workers' abilities" to bring the problem under control before it damages priceless artwork.
The APPA did note that "these conditions are recognized by (gallery) staff and plans exist for their correction." But the report added: "The team wishes to state emphatically that steps should be undertaken immediately to correct these deficiencies before disaster occurs."
Six months later, the gallery has not taken those immediate steps. Kaplan said all of the skylights in the modern East Building will be resealed by the middle of April.
Meanwhile, a four-year renovation of the skylights in the old West Building will not even begin until June 1996. Thanks to a $2 million grant from the Department of Energy, the gallery will also receive a state-of-the-art building automation system for heating and cooling. But the installation won't start until June and take more than two years to complete.
At the congressional hearings, gallery officials may find the heat too high.