I am pleased to be a presenter and panelist at an event later this month on a topic of evergreen currency: museums and deaccessioning. As we’ve covered here, the pandemic has put pressure on museums in ways that were hard to foresee only 12 months ago. The response by museums, museum associations, and attorneys general has taken a variety of approaches. Just in the last year alone from Brooklyn, to Baltimore, to Syracuse, and most recently the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whether, when, and how museums should handle sales of their collections remains a volatile subject.
I was therefore delighted to hear of this event: “Deaccessioning After 2020,” organized by Syracuse University’s Graduate Program in Museum Studies. It will bring together museum directors, curators, legal scholars, attorneys general, and every imaginable perspective on this contentious issue. I couldn’t be more pleased in particular to see Michael Conforti on the program, who hired me in 1997 to work at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute at the start of what has been a truly unpredictable but rewarding professional journey, as well as old friend and leading opponent of the Deaccessioning Police (as he would put it, and which has from time to time could be applied to me) Donn Zaretsky. This is to say nothing of fellow Williams College alums Amy Whitaker and Glenn Lowry. Go Ephs/Williams Art Mafia!
I will be on two panels, “Legal Issues, Strategies, and the Role of the Courts,” and “Ask the Lawyers.” Registration is open now and available here. The full program is listed below. I hope to see you there.
March 17, 2021
Opening Keynote
Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Museum Hue
March 18, 2021
Welcome
Dean Craig M. Boise Syracuse University College of Law
Museum Resource Allocation: The Cost of Collecting
Agustín Arteaga, Director, Dallas Museum of Art
Betsy Bradley, Director, Mississippi Museum of Art
Michael O’Hare, Professor, Graduate School at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley
Erin Richardson, Principal, Frank & Glory
Joseph Thompson, Founding Director, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Moderator: Andrew Saluti, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator, Graduate Program in Museum Studies, Syracuse University School of Design
Legal Issues, Strategies, and the Role of the Courts
Courtney Aladro, Chief, Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Mark Gold, Partner, Smith Green & Gold LLP
Nicholas O’Donnell, Partner, Sullivan & Worcester, LLP
James Sheehan, Chief, Charities Bureau, New York State Department of Law
Moderator: Dean Craig M. Boise Syracuse University College of Law
The Impermanence of Objects and Museums
Michael Conforti, Former Director, Clark Art Institute
Steven Lubar, Professor, American Studies, History, History of Art and Architecture, Brown University
Amy Whitaker, Assistant Professor, Visual Arts Administration, New York University
Moderator: Stefanie Jandl, Co-editor, Collections and Deaccessioning in a Post-Pandemic World
March 18, 2021
What Does Diversifying the Collection Mean to Artists?
Deborah Kass, Artist
Amalia Mesa-Bains, Artist
Meleko Mokgosi, Artist
Wendy Red Star, Artist
Moderator: Carrie Mae Weems, Artist and Trustee, Everson Museum of Art
Regional Museums Making Difficult Decisions and Expanding Horizons
Jessica Arb Danial, Board President, Everson Museum of Art
Elizabeth Dunbar, Executive Director, Everson Museum of Art
Elizabeth McGraw, Former Board President, Berkshire Museum
Van Shields, Former Executive Director, Berkshire Museum
Moderator: Laura Roberts Principal, Roberts Consulting
Closing
Emily Stokes-Rees, Interim Director, School of Design and Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Museum Studies, Syracuse University
March 19, 2021
Welcome
Andrew Saluti, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator, Graduate Program in Museum Studies, Syracuse University School of Design
Direct Care: A Critical Concept Still Struggling for Meaning
Anne Pasternak, Director, Brooklyn Museum
Cara Starke, Executive Director, Pulitzer Arts Foundation
Roxana Velásquez, Executive Director, The San Diego Museum of Art
Sally Yerkovich, Chair, AAM Task Force on Direct Care of Collections
Moderator: Mark Gold, Partner, Smith Green & Gold, LLP
Ask the Lawyers
Brian Frye, Professor of Law, University of Kentucky College of Law
Mark Gold, Partner, Smith Green & Gold LLP
Nicholas O’Donnell, Partner, Sullivan & Worcester, LLP
Donn Zaretsky, Partner, Silberman Zaretsky, PC
Moderator: Emily Stokes-Rees, Interim Director, School of Design and Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Museum Studies, Syracuse University
Breakout Sessions
Museums with Parent Organizations: Vulnerabilities and Strategies
Peter Dean, Former Trustee, Randolph College
Andria Derstine, Director, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College
William Eiland, Director, University of Georgia Museum of Art
Jamaal Sheats, Director and Curator of Galleries, Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery, Fisk University
Moderator: Kristina Durocher, President, Association of Academic Museums and Galleries
Historic Sites and the Deaccessioning Dilemma. Or is it?
Christy Coleman, Executive Director, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Ken Turino, Manager of Community Partnerships and Resource Development, Historic New England, Member of AAM Direct Care Task Force
Lawrence Yerdon, President and CEO, Strawbery Banke Museum
Moderator: Scott Wands Emeritus Council, American Association for State and Local History
Ask the Auction House
Nina del Rio, Vice Chairman, Sotheby’s
Michael Shapiro, Senior Advisor, Hindman Auctions
Allison Whiting, Senior Museum Advisor, Christie’s
Moderator: Julia Courtney, Editor, When is it Okay to Sell the Monet?
Keynote:
The Evolving Role of Collections in Serving the Museum’s Mission
Christopher Bedford, Director, The Baltimore Museum of Art
Progressive Deaccessioning
Glenn Adamson, Independent Curator and Writer
Julia Pelta, Feldman Postdoctoral Fellow, Bern University of the Arts
Michelle Millar, Fisher Museum Curator
Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Museum Hue
Moderator: Sarah Douglas, Editor-in-Chief, ARTnews
Making the Case for Change—or Not
Christopher Bedford, Director, The Baltimore Museum of Art
Thomas Campbell, Director and CEO, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Linda Harrison, Director and CEO, The Newark Museum of Art
Glenn D. Lowry, Director, The Museum of Modern Art
Tracey Riese, Trustee and Chair of Collections Committee, Brooklyn Museum
Moderator: Melody Kanschat, Executive Director, Museum Leadership Institute
Closing
Dean Craig M. Boise Syracuse University College of Law
