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Fri, 9 Nov 2001 21:18:53 EST |
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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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