{"id":2842,"date":"2023-03-17T06:03:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T13:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=2842"},"modified":"2023-03-17T06:03:43","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T13:03:43","slug":"really-it-is-ok-for-a-college-to-sell-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/03\/really-it-is-ok-for-a-college-to-sell-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Really, it is OK for a college to sell art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few days ago I wrote a post<\/a> re Valparaiso University’s plans to sell three paintings, with an estimated total market value of $10 million, to deal with its rather dire financial situation, and to make investments seen necessary to attract students, whose numbers have fallen dramatically over the past decade. This generated some replies, which I am always grateful to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One respondent wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The university should donate the art to another museum if it can\u2019t keep or care for the pieces and it should begin to sell off its real estate, reduce programs and eliminate the staff in a few departments if it can\u2019t maintain a budget.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I don’t agree with this choice, but credit where due: at least the writer is clear about what the choices are. The university *has* cut programs; I’m not sure whether continued cuts to programs simply put the school on a downward spiral, as it becomes even harder to attract new students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blogger Lee Rosenbaum, writing as CultureGrrl, is very opposed to the sale of art<\/a> for the reason that … well, there is no reason. To not deaccession art is, for her, a categorical imperative, and there is nothing more to be said. She writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I have repeatedly maintained that artworks are no less crucial to a nonprofit museum\u2019s educational mission than books are to a library.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well, sure, and I would add to books in a library (side note: I have many used books on my shelves that are marked as library discards): faculty and staff, classrooms and labs and recital halls, proper dormitories and dining rooms, and athletic facilities. But somehow any and all of those are fair game for cuts, while art works have this unique status of full protection. This needs more justification than a bureaucratic association of museums simply saying so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my piece I put the following, slightly absurd, scenario:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You are the president of a small, private liberal arts college that has fallen on hard times. Your enrolment has declined by 39% since 2016, you have had to cut academic programs, and your dormitories are badly in need of repair \u2013 attracting students is of paramount concern, but there are few funds available. Your campus has an art museum that holds 5,000 works, though none of them of any outstanding value. One morning you get a call from an alumnus who has done well for himself, and he says \u201cI am giving the university $10 million; I want you to spend it on whatever you think is of highest priority right now.\u201d You cannot believe your good fortune. \u201cWonderful!\u201d, you reply, \u201cThere are three paintings, worth a total of $10 million, now on the market, that I have had my eye on for the college. And now I can go and buy them!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A respondent writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Try another: A donor meets with the University\u2019s museum director and offers $10 million to purchase art for the benefit of the museum and the university\u2019s programs in art history and studio practice and the welfare of the student body and the general public. The director is thrilled but explains he needs approval from the CEO. That person is thrilled: \u201cGreat\u201d he says. \u201cAccept the donation, buy the art and then we can sell it to finance the renovations of our dormitories!\u201d Museum director takes the donor out to lunch and sadly declines the gift.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is obviously meant as a jibe at cynical university presidents, but let’s look at it from another angle: the two donors. In my tale, the donor wants to help any way he can: use these funds where the needs are greatest. In the second tale, the donor, coming, remember, to a University that has been cutting academic programs and is getting rather desperate, insists<\/em> that the donation be used to purchase art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, if you have $10 million in the bank to donate to your favorite college, you have had an awful lot of luck in life. There is something odd about the prevailing system in the United States where that luck leads to a situation where the donor is treated as absolutely within his rights, legal and<\/em> moral, to decide how to restrict the use of his donations. The donor in the second story ought to face some questioning here. I don’t question his legal rights. I do question the grounds on which he thinks this is a perfectly defensible way to use his wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That leads to one more respondent:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Valparaiso is facing a systemic, long-term national problem with a short-term guess at a solution: nationwide, colleges face catastrophically lower enrollments; and especially many small colleges, without endowments, are on death\u2019s door. As a Nation we are closing off pathways to higher education for all but the wealthiest Americans, and consigning the working people to colossal college debt if they try to \u201cget ahead.\u201d I don\u2019t have the solution to the problem of our Nation\u2019s indifference to supporting the good-faith efforts of \u201cWe the People\u201d to pursue happiness and the American Dream through a college education. I just don\u2019t think the answer is selling masterworks that make a college nationally distinctive in order to upgrade the dorms.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yes. The underlying issue here is the lack of any coherent policy regarding higher education in the US. The decentralized system here leads to American domination of the Premier League world university rankings, but deep dysfunction as we go into the lower divisions, and much of this is driven by “donor” preferences. What can we say when the universities that continue to take in the most donations per year are already the very richest, the Stanford’s and Harvard’s?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish Valpo, and many other small colleges, were not in this position. I don’t think having to sell art is a good situation for anyone – when I say it is “OK”, I mean that should circumstances leave you with few choices, it is an option that ought to be on the table. But there is nothing ideal about this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago I wrote a post re Valparaiso University’s plans to sell three paintings, with an estimated total market value of $10 million, to deal with its rather dire financial situation, and to make investments seen necessary to attract students, whose numbers have fallen dramatically over the past decade. This generated some replies, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/postbox.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-JQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1295,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/05\/art-and-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":2842,"position":0},"title":"Art and money","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A.O. Scott, in his Times article \"The Paradox of Art as Work,\" begins: There are few modern relationships as fraught as the one between art and money. Are they mortal enemies, secret lovers or perfect soul mates? Is the bond between them a source of pride or shame, a marriage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"buy and sell","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/art-fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1110,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/economics-of-deaccessioning-a-bit-theoretical\/","url_meta":{"origin":2842,"position":1},"title":"Economics of deaccessioning (a bit theoretical) (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Why is it so wrong that a museum would sell works from its collection? More specifically, why is it wrong to sell works where the proceeds from the sale would not be committed to the purchase of other works for the collection? I know of the policies of the Association\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sounds tempting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Herbert_James_Draper_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Herbert_James_Draper_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Herbert_James_Draper_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Herbert_James_Draper_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1458,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/08\/amazon-and-orwell-and-penguins\/","url_meta":{"origin":2842,"position":2},"title":"Amazon and Orwell and Penguins (Updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"By now most everyone who follows artsjournal.com and the Amazon dispute has heard of its strange use of George Orwell in its (shockingly mishandled) dispute with the publishing sector. The New York Times reports: The freshest part of Amazon\u2019s call to arms was the history lesson. It recounted how the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"weapons of mass destruction?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/penguin-books.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/penguin-books.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/penguin-books.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2836,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/03\/it-is-ok-for-a-college-to-sell-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":2842,"position":3},"title":"It is OK for a college to sell art","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"You are the president of a small, private liberal arts college that has fallen on hard times. Your enrolment has declined by 39% since 2016, you have had to cut academic programs, and your dormitories are badly in need of repair - attracting students is of paramount concern, but there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Valpo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Valpo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Valpo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Valpo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Valpo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Valpo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2327,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2018\/03\/is-there-an-ethical-case-against-deaccessioning-by-museums\/","url_meta":{"origin":2842,"position":4},"title":"Is there an ethical case against deaccessioning by museums? Updated","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to a post by artsjournal.com blog neighbor Lee Rosenbaum on proposed sales of works by the Berkshire Museum and the Lasalle University Art Museum, I asked via Twitter whether there was a coherent case to be made that deaccessioning is unethical, and not simply (sometimes) a case of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1629,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/10\/deaccessioning-a-puzzle-and-a-speculative-answer\/","url_meta":{"origin":2842,"position":5},"title":"Deaccessioning: A puzzle, and a speculative answer (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"October 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Why is it considered unethical for nonprofit or public sector museums to sell art, except for cases when the proceeds will be directly used to acquire new art? At the Art Law Blog, Donn Zaretsky points out that if a private collector decided to open a space to display some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"so, why no deaccessioning?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/ask-a-curator12.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/ask-a-curator12.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/ask-a-curator12.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/ask-a-curator12.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/ask-a-curator12.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2842"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2847,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2842\/revisions\/2847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}