At the Appraisers Association of America luncheon on Tuesday, board member Harmer Johnson presented Susan Weber Soros, founder of the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, with the association’s award for Excellence in the Arts. Accepting her award, Ms. Soros said that what ties everyone there together is the transformative power of art.

The organization, according to its president, David Gallager, is the oldest nonprofit personal property appraisers association in America. Its members appraise fine art, jewelry, collectibles, and household items when people need an appraisal for estate tax, insurance, loans, or their own personal information. He paused, adding another reason people get appraisals: “Divorce – I didn’t want to say that first.”

A humorous moment occurred when Mr. Johnson, before giving the award to Ms. Soros, said that, for the first few minutes of the reception, he accidentally wore the name tag of Heather Johnson of Christie’s. He joked that because of people coming up to him while wearing the tag, “I’ve got three good leads for you.”

The keynote speaker was the president and chief executive officer of the Barnes Foundation, Kimberly Camp, who joined the foundation in 1998. She spoke about the history of the organization and its founder, Dr. Albert Barnes, who had the idea that artists see at a higher level. “He approached aesthetics,” she said, “the way he approached science and math.”

After Barnes died, the collection’s Renoirs, Cezannes, and Picassos were for many years not accessible to scholars, journalists, curators, and conservators. Cash-strapped and facing decades of deferred maintenance, the Barnes Foundation took its work on tour and raised $17 million dollars. Now, in a controversial move, it is planning to move the collection to downtown Philadelphia where more people can see it.

Ms. Camp sought to dispel rumors. Barnes’s will was not changed, she said, only the charter. The Foundation, she said, was not leaving Merion, Pa., but would have an arboretum and research center there.

She said that, when she first came to the Barnes Foundation, it let in 200 visitors on Friday, 200 on Saturday, and 100 on Sunday. Now, it’s 1,200 per week, by advance reservation only. “If you show up, we can’t let you in; if you can call by cell phone from the corner, we can sell you a ticket,” she said.

She added that the “sleepy residential community” had nearby schools with a total of 8,000 students a day. In working with the community and addressing community concerns, she said, to audience mirth, “I even brought in a mediator who goes into war-torn areas.” She also said the judge’s ruling allowing them to move to Philadelphia faced a court a appeal by a Barnes Foundation student in the art program. In a follow up phone call to Ms. Camp, the Sun learned that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled yesterday to dismiss the appeal.

Among the packed audience were Roslyn Bakst Goldman, of Rochester, N.Y., a specialist in appraising original prints. Ronald Bourgeault, of Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, N.H., talked with Boston-based Karen Keane, chief executive officer of Skinner Incorporated. Nearby, Doyle New York chairman and chief executive officer Kathleen Doyle was talking with Jonathan Freeman, manager of appraisal services at Freeman’s Auction, America’s oldest auction house, which is based in Philadelphia and celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.

Helaine Fendelman, of Helaine Fendelman & Associates, spoke of collegiality among appraisers: “You never know when you’ll need one of your fellow appraisers, because you can’t know everything.” Asked what the secret to being a successful appraiser is, Kathleen Harwood cited humility and reaching out to colleagues.

“You have to listen to your clients and what they are saying and respond to what they need within the structure of the appraisal profession,” she said. Her projects include working on a collection of Georg Jensen silver as well as restoration of 1920s chandeliers for a theater in the Midwest.

The Sun met Dan Farrell, who described his new half-hour show “Antiques Roadshow – FYI,” on Wednesday nights on PBS. He said the show finishes with a segment called “Missing Masterpieces.” He described his favorite missing masterpiece.

It seems a certain pair of settees were part of an incredible set of furniture commissioned by a wealthy 18th century Philadelphia family. A century or so later, one of the descendents married the Irish housekeeper and packed up everything and sold it at auction. In 1904, American furniture was not as appreciated, Mr. Farrell said. Some of the dining chairs were found in Italy and a tea table was found in Enfield, Conn. The settees are still missing.

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NO PBS PLEDGE DRIVE

Professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College Robert Faggen was among those speaking at a tribute on Friday to Czeslaw Milosz, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, that was held at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College.

Moderated by Lawrence Weschler, the PEN Voices program included Bei Dao, Durs Grunbein, Robert Hass, Edward Hirsch, Eva Hoffman, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Azar Nafisi, Tomas Venclova, and Adam Zagajewski.

Mr. Faggen told how a student in his seminar once asked Milosz, “What do you hate most about America?” Milosz replied, “Television.” The questioner, Mr. Faggen continued, was a good student, who followed up, asking what about television the famed writer disliked. “The nature programs,” Milosz answered.