[URBAN NOTE] "Detroit art collection under threat as city looks to sell assets"

[rfmcdonald]

This is a very sad story.

The Detroit Institute of Arts' multimillion-dollar collection is being reviewed by an emergency city manager seeking assets to sell to pay off municipal debt.

[. . . T]he news that the art institute's building and its collection — which includes works by Picasso, van Gogh and Bruegel — could be sold off to relieve debt has shocked both the local community and art lovers everywhere.

“There’s never been a municipal bankruptcy or a manager appointed to oversee a city’s finances on this scale before in the U.S.,” she told CBC’s Q cultural affairs show.

“And there’s never been an asset like the DIA collection involved in something like this. We really are in uncharted waters.”

Michigan governor Rick Snyder recently appointed emergency city manager Kevyn Orr to investigate the city’s crisis. Orr contacted the museum about two weeks ago, demanding that it play a role in solving the city’s debt problem.

Erickson says exactly what that role might be will be worked out over the next month. Though Detroit doesn’t contribute toward the operating costs of the museum, the art and the building are owned by the city.