Dear list colleagues, 

I’m the curator of the model collection in an air and space museum, and have 
been asked by our vice president to go through our collection of unbuilt 
model kits and select "the ones we don’t really need" so they can be sold in 
the gift shop. Needless to say, this makes me very nervous. I have tried to 
explain about the presumption of permanence of the collection, the need to 
keep things in the public trust, the ramifications of selling items from the 
collections in the gift shop, etc. but to no avail. (I guess I need to 
mention that none of the upper management has any background in museum work, 
and that this VP is also the development director and is under pressure to 
raise money.)

My questions are these: Is it ethical? Is it legal? Have you faced similar 
situations? I would appreciate any advice on how I can handle this 
professionally, short of leaving the museum. My fear is that after the 
unbuilt kits are sold, I’ll be asked to cull the model collection. (Other 
collections are being "thinned" as well, sometimes without any consultation 
with curators.)

Other facts that may be relevant: Many of the model kits have no provenance, 
they were just there when I took over the collection. Very few are formally 
accessioned (but that’s true of most of the artifacts in our museum!), and 
none has any restriction that says we can’t sell it. Some of the kits are 
rare and "collectible," we have duplicates of a few, and they are unlikely to 
be assembled or exhibited in the future.

The VP has also suggested that in cases where we know who made the donation, 
we can simply call and ask if they mind if we sell it. This fills me with 
dread, too. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

Chuck Stout

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