BlogBack: AAM on Its Reponse to Maier Sales

Eileen Goldspiel, the American Association of Museums’ interim director for government & media relations, responds to AAM’s Silence, in which I asked why the museums’ organization had made no statement about Randolph College’s planned sale of art from its Maier Museum.
Goldspiel writes:
It is indeed AAM’s policy not to comment on specific actions of individual institutions, meaning that we do not issue separate press releases or freestanding statements on individual cases.
However, it is not the case that AAM has had nothing to say.
First, whenever asked, we have encouraged reporters and their readers directly to consult the AAM Code of Ethics for Museums. The AAM code states clearly that “proceeds from the sale of non-living collections are to be used consistent with the established standards of the museum’s discipline, but in no event shall they be used for anything other than acquisition or direct care of collections.” The applicability to this situation is clear to all.
When asked to comment on museum standards concerning sale of collections for a story on this case in the Washington Post, AAM President Ford Bell was quoted: “The ethics are very clear: You don’t sell artwork to fix the boiler.”