: A referee appointed by the Cumberland County Superior Court has
found the Jones Museum of Glass and Ceramics in contempt of
earlier court orders issued in its ongoing dispute with the
museum's founder and former trustee, director and curator,
Dorothy-Lee Jones. In an order dated August 22, the referee,
attorney Charles H. Abbott of Auburn, Maine, found that John
Holverson, current director of the museum, and another staff
member improperly removed items from the museum in Sebago earlier
this year "in clear violation of Orders previously issued."
Abbott ordered the museum to pay all legal fees incurred by Jones
in bringing the contempt motion against the museum. His order
also returned control of the museum building on Douglas Hill in
Sebago to Jones, its owner, noting that under occupation by the
museum "It is being neglected and routine maintenance is not
being performed."
"I am relieved that the court has restored control of the
building to me so that I can safeguard my property and the
collection I have spent my entire life assembling," said Jones.
"I also am pleased that this order will put a stop to the
improper removal by the museum staff of the glass and ceramic art
that is at the heart of this dispute."
The nationally known Jones Museum of Glass and Ceramics,
featuring thousands of pieces from the collections of Jones and
others, as well as an extensive reference library, was open at
the Douglas Hill location for more than two decades. Jones'
attorney, James Erwin of Pierce Atwood, said the museum was
closed to the public by the trustees in the fall of 2001.
Erwin said the trustees then voted to leave the Sebago site and
establish a new organization, the Museum of Glass and Ceramics.
The group recently purchased a former National Guard armory in
South Portland where it plans to open a new museum in the next
few years if it can raise several million dollars to renovate the
building.
The order issued by the referee on August 22 is the latest action
in an ongoing lawsuit filed by Jones against the museum to
recover thousands of pieces of glass and ceramics that she owns
personally and had loaned to the museum as the core of its
educational program. Previous orders established an inspection
process to determine which items were given to the museum and
which are still owned by Jones. Those inspections are expected to
be completed later this fall.
"It was with great reluctance that Dot Jones asked the referee to
find the museum in contempt of his earlier orders," said Jones'
attorney, James Erwin. "We are heartened that he has returned
control of Dot's property to her and that he has, in no uncertain
terms, once again made it clear to Mr. Holverson and the museum
board and staff that no disputed items are to be removed from the
museum until proper ownership has been established."
Holverson has been director of Jones' museum since 1999. He is a
former director of the Portland Museum of Art, and resigned amid
controversy in 1987.
Erwin said that he is hopeful the process can now move forward
and that the dispute over ownership of the collection can be
resolved once and for all in the not too distant future."
