The Berkshire Museum’s investment of $3.5 million in building renovation is good news, but did it require sacrificing the community’s most valuable art?
Financial strains exacerbated by pandemic-related impacts have left some museums across the U.S. struggling with the question of whether to deaccession artworks. In the early part of the coronavirus pandemic, when the economy tanked, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) relaxed rules around selling artwork from museums' collections. New guidelines stipulated that funds raised could be used for more than buying other artworks, without penalty, at least until April 2022. Since .
The facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Courtesy of the Met.
The practice of deaccessioning has never failed to incite controversy. But the stakes are even higher now that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York one of the wealthiest, largest, and best-attended museums in the world has suggested it is considering selling off some of its art as it faces a $150 million shortfall.
The fact that a leading professional organization relaxed its guidelines surrounding deaccessioning last spring, which means that the Met would draw no official censure from the move, is of no consequence to the many experts and observers including former museum leadership who swiftly voiced their opposition.
Ruins of the medieval Armenian cathedral at the ancient site of Ani in eastern Turkey Dallet-Alba/Alamy
An agreement between Turkey and the United States to combat the illicit trade in antiquities and other cultural property has divided historians and preservationists over whether the accord will curb smuggling or undermine minority heritage that faces neglect or worse.
A memorandum of understanding signed last month imposes US import restrictions on archaeological objects 250 years or older that the Turkish government has not licenced to leave the country. The aim is “to reduce the incentive for pillage of irreplaceable archaeological and ethnological material representing Turkey’s cultural heritage,” according to the agreement, which becomes binding once the governments notify each other that their procedures for enforcement are ready.
Nonprofits Urge Targeted Executive, Legislative Policies
February 1, 2021
While nonprofits were included in coronavirus relief legislation, a group of 75 charitable organizations has sent a letter to President Joseph R. Biden and top Congressional leaders, urging them to enact provisions that specifically address their needs.
Within the letter, the group acknowledged the Families First Act, the CARES Act and the COVID relief law contain provisions that help charitable nonprofits.
“However, we note that those Acts often did so by inserting nonprofits into existing or predetermined programs designed for for-profit businesses that face very different challenges,” the signators asserted in their Jan. 22 letter, which was sent to President Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.