The Association of Art Museum Directors released this statement today regarding the possible sale of the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts to provide funds for the City of Detroit.



A museum’s collection is held in public trust for current and future generations. This is a bedrock principle of the Association of Art Museum Directors and of the museum field as a whole. Art collections are vitally important cultural and educational resources that should never be treated as disposable assets to be liquidated, even in times of economic distress. Those involved in the discussion of the financial challenges that Detroit faces today must make thoughtful decisions that will serve to strengthen the city in the future. Selling the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts would undermine this goal. The Association of Art Museum Directors strongly encourages the Detroit Emergency Manager and everyone involved in the process of addressing the city’s fiscal issues to preserve this irreplaceable collection to ensure that it will remain in place as a cornerstone for the city’s resurgence.

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Further AAMD Statements on the Detroit Institute of Arts:

AAMD's Letter to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on the Detroit Institute of Arts collection, June 4, 2013

AAMD's Statement on the Appraisal of the Detroit Institute of Arts collection, August 5, 2013

AAMD President Timothy Rub and Executive Director Christine Anagnos' Letter in The New York Times Sunday Dialogue, August 10, 2013