The Save the Art website provides an historical record of the Berkshire Museum’s actions beginning the summer of 2017, when its trustees publicly announced that Pittsfield’s valuable art and historic heritage was contracted for sale at Sotheby’s. It documents and archives the events leading to this action, as well as the financial backdrop, protests, legal suits, and extensive print coverage following.
The sale of the Berkshire Museum’s art collection irreparably divided the Berkshire community and caused repercussions nationwide to the present, when economic fallout from a global pandemic puts the Public Trust in ever-greater danger.
It is our hope that this website will assist other institutions, communities, legal professionals, researchers, and interested citizens who face related issues and challenges, well into the future.