CHAPTER 85

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 9-78, 9-80, 9-81, 9-82 and 9-84 of the
Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

(H 14]
Approved February 22, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 9-78, 9-80, 9-81, 9-82 and 9-84 of the Code of Virginia be
amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 9-78. The management and control of the Virginia Museum of
Fine Arts, hereinafter in this chapter called the “Museum”, together with
the building, contents, furnishings*, grounds and other properties there-
of shall be vested in a board of trustees composed of * the following
persons: (1) ex officio members: the Governor and Lieutenant Governor
of Virginia, the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Mayor of the
City of Richmond; and (2) regular members: the trustees who are in
office when this amendment takes effect and their successors from time
to time, consisting of not less than twenty-five persons and not more than
thirty-five persons. The term of office of all regular members who are tn
office when this amendment takes effect shall continue until June thirty,
nineteen hundred sixty-three, and shall expire at that time. All successors
from time to time, whether for a full term or for the remainder of an
unexpired term, shall be appointed and commissioned by the Governor,
upon the nomination of the trustees from the list of members of the
Museum.* The trustees appointed to hold office beginning on July one,
nineteen hundred sixty-three, shall be divided as nearly as may be, into
five equal groups, their terms of office to expire, respectively, one, two,
three, four and five years thereafter. All trustees subsequently appointed
shall hold office for a term of five years unless appointed for the remainder
of an unexpired term. No person shall be eligible to serve consecutively
for more than two successive complete terms, counting as one thereof the
period from the date when this amendment becomes effective until June
thirty, nineteen hundred sixty-three. Nine trustees shall constitute a
quorum at any meeting and a majority vote of those present shall control
in all matters.

§ 9-80. Such trustees may also provide for an executive committee,
composed of not less than three * trustees, which committee may exercise
powers vested in and perform duties imposed upon the trustees by this
chapter to the extent designated and permitted by the trustees.

§ 9-81. Such trustees are vested with full authority (1) to manage,
control, maintain and operate the Museum, including the contents, furnish-
ings and grounds thereof, and including the funds, property and endow-
ments thereof; (2) to charge for admission to the Museum if deemed
proper; (3) to employ such persons as may be necessary to manage,
control, maintain and operate the same; (4) to suspend or remove at
pleasure any person so employed; (5) to determine what paintings,
statuary and works of art may be kept, housed or exhibited in the Museum;
(6) to acquire by purchase, gift, loan or otherwise paintings, statuary and
works of art and to exchange or sell the same if not inconsistent with the
terms of the purchase, gift, loan or other acquisition thereof; (7) to enter
into agreements with organizations interested in art; (8) to adopt a seal;
(9) to stimulate and assist in the formation of new organizations; (10) to
do such other things as they deem proper to promote throughout the
Commonwealth education in the realm of art; and (11) to receive and
administer on behalf of the Commonwealth gifts, bequests and devises
of real and personal property for the endowment of the Museum or for
any special purpose designated by the donor. And the trustees are hereby
authorized to change from time to time the form of investment of any
funds, securities or other property, real or personal, provided the same be
not inconsistent with the terms of the instrument under which the same
was acquired, and to that end may sell, grant and convey any such
property, but, in the case of real property, only by and with the written
consent of the Governor. The trustees may from time to time confer the
honorary degree of patron of arts on any person who has, in their opinion,
made an outstanding contribution in the realm of art, but not more than
two such degrees shall be conferred in any calendar year.

§ 9-82. Such trustees are vested with full authority to establish
classes of membership in the Museum under such regulations as to them
may seem proper *. All members making a contribution of one thousand
dollars or more prior to the effective date of this amendment may dispose
of their membership by last will and testament.

§ 9-84. All money received by the Museum for current expenses in
conducting the Museum shall be paid into the treasury of Virginia, where
it shall be set aside as a special fund for the operation of the Museum,
for which purpose such money is hereby appropriated, to be paid by the
State Treasurer on warrants of the Comptroller issued upon vouchers
signed by the president of the Museum or his duly authorized agent. The
Museum shall be deemed to be an institution of higher education within
the meaning of § 28-9.2 of the Code of Virginia.