ORIGINAL PUBLICATION DATE: FRIDAY MARCH 12, 2010

COLLECTOR CHATS WITH PETER S. SEIBERT

This Week: Gifts to Museums.

Having worked much of my career in the museum world, I am very familiar with the idea of donating a family heirloom or a rare object/collection to a museum. Such gifts, in fact, are the basis of all museum collections. Often when I go to the Smithsonian or similar museum housing national treasures, I quietly thank the generous donors who ensured that others could appreciate what they or their ancestors had the foresight to protect.

Also, I am asked, often, whether it is a good idea to make bequests of items to a local museum or historical society. Donors have heard stories about items were given to such institutions only to discover later that they were sold or given away. I remember an early job experience of having to explain to a lady that my predecessor had sold her mother’s wedding gown that had been donated to a county historical society. It was conversation that could have been prevented if the item was either returned to the donor or had been kept in the collections.

Museums are organic organizations in that as staff and board members change, so do priorities for the institution. In particular, I have seen this happen when a museum focuses on a given area - such as clothing - because a staff member has an interest in the subject. When that person leaves, the institutional priorities alter, and the collection now becomes a liability rather than an asset. Within a few years, the focused collection is either relegated to storage or sold.

My concern with donating to a museum is the fact that some institutions are not up front about their intentions. There has to be a degree of honesty by the museum in saying that a gift to a museum may not be a permanent thing, and that future decisions could be made that would result in an item being sold.

What decisions could prompt a museum to sell a donated object? First and foremost, and arguably a legitimate reason, would be that the item was damaged to the point where it needed to be disposed of. I have seen this happen and it is a legitimate deacession. Second is that a better quality item identical to the donated one comes along and thus the institution sells the lesser of the two. This is an art museum argument and relates to a very specific institutional mission that focuses upon quality. An old friend of mine who was a curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art always made the point of telling every donor that if a better quality item came along that their piece might be sold. He may not have gotten every donation but he was completely and totally honest.

†The third, and the most problematic of reasons to sell, is that the museum needs money to support itself. This is an area that the museum world, in general, has denounced, with a resounding voice, as absolutely inappropriate. No legitimate museum would ever sell objects from its collections to support its operations.

Such deacessions for operating expenses are considered grossly unethical. Both the American Association of Museums and the American Association for State and Local History have spoken to this issue in professional codes of ethics. The challenge is that while most museums agree to this statement, there are some that will quietly deacession items and then move funds internally after the sale to support their budgets. Such actions often happen under the cloud of phrases like “we need to pay the electric bill in order to ensure the air conditioning is on and thus our collections are preserved.” Nice sounding, but frankly it betrays the fact that the organization has a complete lack of fiduciary responsibility for itself.

My advice and counsel to people thinking about museums is to ask lots of questions and be wary of hesitant answers. If an institution is not willing to be honest about its intentions, then walk away. Similarly, if you have concerns but still wish to make a donation, then obtain in writing an assurance that the museum will contact you if a decision is made to dispose of the item. Many institutions will offer back items that they intend to deacession. Finally, remember to ask and seek the consent of your entire family in making such a decision. I remember a son coming heart-broken to see me because their father had given away a prized family treasure without talking to them. Communication, communication and communication is the key to ensuring that your legacy to a museum meets your needs, those of your family, and that of the museum.