It's time to get real about a harsh reality facing the DIA, Nolan Finley writes in The Detroit News.
For a museum with a board that includes some of Metro Detroit’s brightest business executives, the Detroit Institute of Arts lives in a shocking state of economic denial. . . .
Art from the DIA’s treasure chest is going to be taken.
In recent days, I’ve talked to three people at the top of the decision-making in the bankruptcy process. All said, without question, that at least part of the collection will have to be — their word — “monetized” before the bankruptcy is resolved.
"The institute has fallen back on the worthless response that selling art 'just isn’t done,"' writes Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley. (Flickr photo)
That M-word needn't mean outright sale, the paper's editorial page editor suggests in a Sunday column. Steps could include:
- Leasing valuable pieces.
- Selling works to donors who'd return them on permanent loan.
- Using art as collateral for bond sales.
Those choices and other possibilities should be discussed now, in Finley's view, "before it’s too late for a cooperative solution that would spare both the DIA’s essential holdings and its image."
The DIA should be negotiating with [emergency manager Kevyn] Orr now to figure out how it can deliver the $500 million or so I’m told he wants from the artwork as painlessly as possible. . . .
The columnist uses strong words to reinforce his reality check, writing that "the institute has fallen back on the worthless response that selling art 'just isn’t done' in the museum world."
The business folks on the DIA board know what bankruptcy means. They need to take this over and negotiate a deal.
-- Alan Stamm
