Museum_Legal_Forum

=Art, the Law and the Public Trust: Legal Perspectives on Museums in= =Hard Times=

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 3:00-4:30 p.m. Rose Art Museum Brandeis Unversity

Recent developments in the museum, art and academic worlds pose a range of fascinating legal issues. Under what conditions may nonprofit institutions and entities, such as universities and university museums, sell art that has been donated to them either to pay operating expenses or to increase their endowments? Who are the relevant stakeholders and adjudicators in processes of deaccession? Who has legal standing to challenge the sale of donated art and/or the dissolution of public museums’ or universities’ art collections?? What rights, if any, might the artists themselves have in this context? What are the legal precedents in this area, and to what extent are the courts likely to navigate new territory in the years to come? Finally, what skills and areas of expertise do attorneys need to develop as they engage with these challenging issues of law, museum and public institutions in the 21st century?”

Participants include:
 * James F. Grace, Esq., Executive Director. Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts
 * Nicholas M. O'Donnell, Esq. Sullivan & Worcester LLP
 * New York State Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, 92nd Assembly District (co-author of [|bill regulating the de-accessioning art collections]) See [|New York Times report on the bill] (Participation from Albany via Speakerphone. To be confirmed.)

Student organizer: Ronya Gordon (Brandeis '09) Moderator: Professor Andreas Teuber (Philosophy & Legal Studies)

Faculty advisors: Mark Auslander (Anthropology) and Melissa Stimell (Legal Studies)

Co-sponsors: Program in Legal Studies, Department of Fine Arts, Social Justice and Social Policy program, Rose Art Museum, Cultural Production M.A. program,