Museums acquire. They keep. They care for their objects. And it always causes a bit of a stir when a Museum decides to sell something from its collection. In May of 2018, at Christie’s in Hong Kong, an 18th century Chinese vase owned by Philbrook Museum of Art sold for $14.5 million. On this episode we chat with Philbrook Director Scott Stulen to learn the real story behind this potentially controversial decision.

October 2, 2018 – Your hosts, Steve Schindler & Katie Wilson-Milne.
Bonus Episode: Berkshire Museum Litigation Update (It’s not over!)

May 17, 2019 – As a Mark Rothko painting is sold by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, we talk to Christopher Bedford from the Baltimore Museum of Art about deaccessioning works by white male artists in order to diversify museum collections. And we speak to Marz Saffore, an organiser for Decolonize This Place, and Adam Weinberg, the director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, about the protests that have greeted this year’s Whitney Biennial. They relate to Safariland, a company owned by the museum’s vice-chairman Warren Kanders, which manufactures tear gas canisters and other military products that have been used against asylum seekers along the US-Mexico border.

Bonus Episode: Berkshire Museum Deaccessioning Begins

June 6, 2018 – Trustees of the Berkshire Museum head into their first board meeting since selling artworks at a “turning point,” having raised more than $42 million to ensure their 115-year-old institution’s survival. But big decisions lie ahead.
Key decisions lie ahead, Berkshire Museum trustees say. by Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle