Assessing Deaccessioning

In the wake of the National Academy Museum’s announcement to sell Frederic Edwin Church's Scene on the Magdalene (1854) and Sanford Robinson Gifford's Mt. Mansfield (1859) to cover operating expenses and Brandeis University’s decision last year to close its Rose Art Museum, this latest article in the NY Times sheds no more light on the issue than has countless articles in ARTnews and art blogs. Rather than reiterate what has already been stated, I offer a different approach.

While I mourn the possibility of many art institutions ultimately succumbing to economic strain and having under-recognized artwork (and artists) disappearing into private hands, it is time that these very same organizations reassess the role of art in society. True, dwindling endowments are the major reason behind these actions but if the arts were not explicitly catered toward an elite few, perhaps they would not be as devalued as they are today and that arts would not be dictated by endowments and corporations alone. With the wealth of artistic expression comes periods of enlightenment and with a resurgence of interest in the arts, people would rally to maintain it and its ever-decreasing government funding. With organizations like the NEA, Americans for the Arts and the Department of Cultural Affairs, the industry is definitely not ignored, but very much underserved compared to other avenues that are deemed significant. Yes, for all intents and purposes, our government is in gross debt, but that is because any funding for art and social issues is re-routed toward a grossly wasteful and inefficient military budget. I acknowledge that this view is naively simplistic and is far from addressing many of the gray areas, but my point is just that: optimistically simplistic. We must ask bigger questions than "If we allow selling of artwork, wouldn't it set a dangerous precedent?" (which I'd answer with a resounding No, as do many others) toward a question of how we can ensure that art does not sink any further down our misguided priorities.