Comment on Andras Szanto RE Monetizing Core Assets

Andras Szanto protests perhaps too much in the Art Newspaper when he contends that museums have "no latitude to monetise their core assets" in making ends meet. Museums must make ends meet, and Coaccession gives them the latitude to partner with investors and collectors in their core assets to do so. To wit:


Museums have more latitude to monetise their core assets than they may think. James Maroney has his tenancy in common plan and I have my equitable servitudes plan, both designed to let a museum have its Monet and money, too. By selling partial titles rather than full titles, museums keep full cultural control over their entire permanent collection, yet raise substantial funds from collectors and investors.

Since museums should only care about their permanent collection's cultural values, letting their communities hold the collections' financial values costs museums virtually nothing in mission terms. Yet operating and programming benefits of changing those financial values into stocks and bonds paying dividends and interest greatly elevates the cultural mission and insulates museums from financial worries.

Partial title sales should be one of the surprisingly reassuring responses prompted by this moment's circumstances.

Dr. Mark White

Coaccession - at - gmail.com

The Art Newspaper kindly gives commenters 1000 characters to make their point -- if they gave 1500, I would have done worse!