Detroit Institute of Arts Amends Donor Policy to Protect Future Gifts

THE ART NEWSPAPER
By Julia Halperin and Helen Stoilas

MICHIGAN---The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) director Graham Beal writes in his September letter this week that selling any part of the art collection to cover the bankrupt city’s debts “would be tantamount to closing the museum”. The museum is taking a further step in protecting its collection, Beal tells The Art Newspaper, and plans to amend its donor policy to safeguard future gifts from being sold to pay down the city’s $18b debt. “We are inserting into our deed of gift a line stating that from any sale of the work, the proceeds can only be used to buy more art,” says the DIA’s director. University- or city-owned museums are vulnerable to forced sales because they are owned or operated by a governing body whose mission extends beyond that of the museum itself. [link]