Nina, Wow what a loaded question. I have had some experience in the importation of foreign soil, animal, and plant matter for zoological purposes. I would strongly suggest contacting the USDA with your question. Here is the contact info: U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine 4700 River Road, Unit 133 Riverdale, Maryland 20737 APHIS regulations are pretty strict, and pretty clear on the issue of soil (I would also suggest refraining from using the word 'dirt' as that is actually a different definition with APHIS). If the soil in question could be defined as mineral or geological samples, you may have even better luck. You might also see if any, or all of the samples are exempted from the regulations. The following items are exempt: Peat, cosmetic mud and other mud products from fresh water estuaries or the earth's upper surface, if processed to a uniform consistency, and free of plant parts or seeds. Volcanic rock, pumice, geologic samples, drilling cores, or mud, if mined so it is free of organic material. Any sediment, mud, or rock from the oceans of the earth. I suspect that arguing the samples as art won't get you far with the USDA. Soils that have been quarantined properly are admitted under the Code of Federal Regulations 7(CFR) 330.300 which lists the federal authority for these conditions and safeguards. There is a loophole specifically for museums - however, the artist would be required to permanently gift the samples to the institution. If the museum owned the samples you could apply for a special permit. Again, the potential of obtaining one of those permits for 'artistic' purposes may be difficult, especially on a retroactive basis. The other thing to check on would be whether the samples were collected while these APHIS regulations were in effect. Prior to the regulations it was not uncommon for tourists to do as your artist did and bring back souvenir samples of plants, soil, sand, etc. As far as method of collection, trespassing, and illegal importation - That is a legal question that is the responsibility of the artist, not the museum. I'd be very careful about limiting the museum's liability in this case. You do not want the museum to become a party in whatever violation(s) may have taken place. You also need to exercise caution so that the artist does not find the museum liable should she claim you provided erroneous legal advice regarding this matter. I would focus your efforts solely on what the museum would need to do to legally exhibit the material. Good luck! Larry Fisher On 5/31/2012 12:07 PM, Nina Simon wrote: > This one is for the museum lawyers and collection management gurus out > there. > > For an upcoming temporary exhibition on collections, we would like to > show a collection of vials of dirt that a local naturalist collected > on her travels around the world. The challenge is that much of this > dirt was transferred into the US illegally (i.e. from countries where > they are strict about making sure that organic material doesn't enter > or leave the country) or was obtained with some trespassing (i.e. from > celebrities' yards). She is nervous about exhibiting the dirt in > public for this reason. > > My sense is that if we can call this art, it might not be a problem. > Frankly, I don't think it's a big problem period - there's no real > risk or danger to the dirt - but I want to learn more about how to > address this issue. Do you know anyone who might have some expertise > to bear in this arena? > > Thank you, > > Nina > > Nina Simon > Executive Director > *Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History* > 831.429.1964 x7018 > > Come visit us at 705 Front Street in Santa Cruz > Get involved at www.santacruzmah.org > <http://www.santacruzmah.org/> or on Facebook > <http://www.facebook.com/santacruzmah> > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: > http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 > <http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1> > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).