Collection of Detroit Institute of Arts Cannot Be Sold, Its Director Says

GRANTMAKERS IN THE ARTS

"Saint Jerome in his study" (1435) by Jan can Eyck. The collection of DIA

From David Itzkoff, writing for The New York Times:

"The director of the Detroit Institute of Arts said on Friday that he believed the museum’s collection was “held in the public trust” and could not be sold by the city to help pay down its multibillion-dollar debt, and that he expected the city’s emergency manager and his office to reach the same conclusion. “They’re interested in making a healthy and viable Detroit,” the director, Graham W. J. Beal, said on Friday in a telephone interview. “We believe that that kind of action — diminishing our collection, the cultural value — would not be in the long-term interest.” 

Mr. Beal’s remarks came in response to a report in The Detroit Free Press that Kevyn Orr, the emergency manager appointed to oversee operations in Detroit, was exploring whether the museum’s collection of art could be sold to help cover the city’s debt of nearly $15 billion. [link]