The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), an organization representing the entire scope of the museum community, and the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), an organization representing 243 directors of North America’s leading art museums, are strongly opposed to plans announced by La Salle University to deaccession 46 works of art from its collection to fund non-museum investments.

College and university art museums have a long and rich history of collecting, curating, and educating in a financially and ethically responsible manner on par with the world’s most prestigious institutions. A different governance structure does not exempt a university museum from acting ethically, nor permit them to ignore issues of public trust and use collections as disposable financial assets. This is a fundamental ethical principle of the museum field, one which all institutions are obligated to respect: in no event shall funds from deaccessioned works be used for anything other than support for a museum’s collections.

We are in conversation with La Salle University about their plans, and we remain hopeful that the University leadership will reconsider their decision. We stand ready to assist, in any way we are able, to find other solutions to the institution’s needs without resorting to the selling of works that can never be recovered, to the great detriment of current and future students and community members.

Additional Resources:

AAMD Policy on Deaccessioning

AAM Code of Ethics for Museums

Contact

Sascha Freudenheim
PAVE Communications & Consulting
917-544-6057

Joseph Klem
American Alliance of Museums
202-218-7670