Justice Lowy gives go-ahead for Berkshire Museum art sale

The Supreme Judicial Court approved the settlement reached between the Berkshire Museum and Attorney General Healey’s office in early March this year. The museum can now sell up to $55 million of the museum’s art at an auction scheduled for May.

“Based on the Attorney General’s investigation into the sale and her assent to the requested relief, the Museum has satisfied its burden of establishing that it has become impossible or impracticable to administer the Museum strictly in accordance with its charitable purpose,” Lowy wrote, “thus entitling the Museum to relief.” ~Berkshire Eagle, April 5, 2018

Announcement of the decision came as a significant disappointment to those wishing to preserve the museum’s collection. Although Healey’s office will supervise the sale, opponents were dismayed that Judge Lowy didn’t appoint an independent financial monitor.

One opponent, Lynn Valency Cohen, said:

“At the very least, given the Berkshire Museum’s glaring indifference to the groundswell of community opposition … Justice Lowy should have appointed an independent special master to ensure that sales proceeds are handled responsibly,” she said.

“This independent overseer may have served as a small deterrent to museums contemplating sales to erase deficits and bulk up endowments,” Cohen said. ~Berkshire Eagle, April 5, 2018

With regard to the museum’s ethical standards, Anita Walker, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, said:

“They in no way represent the professionalism and stewardship practiced by museums across Massachusetts,” she said of the Pittsfield institution’s leaders. “In this we take heart.”

also

“We are working with our colleagues in the museum community to develop strategies to protect our cultural heritage in Massachusetts and to support our museums who prioritize the public interest,” she said. ~Berkshire Eagle, April 5, 2018

The Association of Art Museum Directors:

“The sale of works from a museum’s collections to fund non-collection-related expenses,” the association said, “is a violation of the public trust — and is not a path to financial sustainability. Yet this is exactly the misguided approach being pursued by the leadership of the Berkshire Museum.” ~Berkshire Eagle, April 5, 2018

Outstanding appeals over the issue of “friends of the court” whose briefs were not allowed legal standing are currently pending, however.

Please read more detailed findings and interesting comment as reported by the Berkshire Eagle: “SJC ruling clears Berkshire Museum to sell artworks“.