University Business - May 2008 - (Page 48)

Art Appreciation they did not carry any restrictions and it was felt these were valuable enough that it would prevent having to add to the amount of artwork involved in the sale, Edson explains. During this time, several updates were sent via e-mail and in print to the campus community and alumni. In January, a white paper of commonly asked questions was distributed. “You communicate the best you can and you try to be understanding of where your constituents are coming from,” says Edson. “But as a board you have to do what’s best for an institution. That’s the most important thing, for a board, keeping the future of your institution.” Nicoll of Smith College acknowledges the ﬁnancial pressures that shaped Randolph’s decision, but as a director of an academic museum she believes it’s “a sad moment” when a major painting like Bellows’ Men of the Docks is put up for auction. “They would never have another like that available for their students.” Randolph College (Va.) went to court over the sale of four paintings, one of them by George Bellows (left), and local groups rallied for Thomas Jefferson U (Pa.) to keep a portrait (right) in Philadelphia. calls. “As a person responsible for the institution, I found it a subject that needed to be addressed and laid to rest once and for all.” A museum advisory committee conducted a study and then made recommendations for improving museum operations, such as integrating museum activities with course curricula, encouraging more student involvement, and displaying the entire collection more frequently. “We have looked for ways to constrain the museum’s budget, so now it breaks even within the institution,” says Miller. Art and the Bottom Line A gallery or museum director and a college or university president will naturally view the subject of selling institutional assets from their own perspectives. “I think the bottom line is for small private institutions like ours to be pretty conscious of what our mission is and whether our assets are being deployed to meet the mission,” explains Miller. “I felt that if there was signiﬁcant value here, we needed to consider whether When to Reconsider Sometimes administrators determine a potential sale may not have converting these works into an asset that generated income would enough merit to be pursued. Last year, oﬃcials at Hartwick College be better for the institution in meeting its mission.” Bell of the American Association of Museums warns that IHEs (N.Y.) decided not to go forward with de-accessioning part of the college’s ﬁne arts collection—after a Sotheby’s appraisal the previ- have to consider the risks of what he calls the long-term eﬀects of ous fall found the estimated amount was not as much as they had these sales, with colleges “losing a great art collection, which some thought. Proceeds would have been placed in an endowment to sup- of these smaller colleges are very lucky to have.” He also cautions about another possible consequence: skeptiport the museum’s operations and programming. Pieces being considered for sale included some from the Lou- cal donors. With donor intent, the decision to unload an art asset is van Ess collection, named for the rector of the local St. James’ today could “make some donors stop and think, ‘Do I want to give Episcopal Church, housed in Hartwick’s Yager Museum of Art and this painting or statue to a university or college museum?’ ” Nicoll hopes that if administrators at Smith ever felt forced to Culture. The collection includes more than 100 European pieces dating from the Italian Renaissance through the mid-19th century, consider selling the institution’s major art holdings, they would manage that process very carefully, with concern about building and also American paintings from the early 20th century. The Yager Museum, established in the 1960s, is also home to “future trust among donors” to continue their support. When confronted with the decision to sell art, Nicoll a collection of Native American archeologisays oﬃcials should be sure to involve their cal materials from the late Willard E. Yager, constituencies in a “very public conversation” an amateur archeologist, writer, and collector, about these challenges if there comes a point which was bequeathed to Hartwick following American Association of Museums, where it has to be understood and agreed his death in 1929. Over the years, the museum www.aam-us.org began to receive more art donations, and the Association of Art Museum Directors, that there may be no other choice. But Miller argues that each case has to potential de-accession was to decide if some www.aamd.org be looked at individually. “It’s a responsibilpieces weren’t relevant to the college’s mission. Association of College and ity for presidents to make sure that all of the A memo informed the campus community University Museums and Galleries, assets that make up the institution are being about a potential sale, and President Richard www.acumg.org deployed to support the college’s mission,” he P. Miller Jr. met with those grieved about the Christie’s, www.christies.com says. “Any college president needs to make a possibility to hear the news. “For some of my decision based on his or her circumstance, colleagues, it was terribly diﬃcult to even think Sotheby’s, www.sothebys.com what the right approach is.” that the college was considering it,” Miller re- Resources 48 | May 2008 universitybusiness.com http://www.aam-us.org http://www.aamd.org http://www.acumg.org http://www.christies.com http://www.sothebys.com http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2008

University Business - May 2008
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Financial Aid
Human Resources
Community Colleges
Art Appreciation
HR Directors Speak Out
Marketing: The Big Questions Answered
Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend EduComm 2008
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - May 2008