Demystifying Deaccessioning

Live Webinar
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
2 - 3:15pm ET 

Description

This webinar will feature a discussion on the various aspects of deaccessioning and the responsibilities of a curator throughout the process

The deaccessioning of artworks from a museum’s collection is a process that is not uncommon, but the nuances of it aren’t always discussed openly. Join us as we discuss the various steps in planning and researching, the roles of individuals engaged, overall decision making, and various possible outcomes. We will specifically address a curator’s responsibilities and voice in the process, available tools and resources, and the impact of deaccessioning on other museum departments. 

Demystifying Deaccessioning is part of the AAMC Foundation’s webinar series, which offers live online discussions on essential skills, timely issues, and latest discoveries that define the profession of an art curator, and enhance understanding and development in the field. This coming year of webinar topics have been developed around the central theme of the “outward-facing-curator,” dissecting ways in which curators collaborate and engage with audiences internally & externally.

Meet the Speakers
(listed alphabetically)

Denene De Quintal, Ph.D; Moderator

Denene De Quintal, Ph.D. co-curated the exhibition Eyes On: Julie Buffalohead(2018) in her previous position as the inaugural Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow in American Indian Art at the Denver Art Museum. Dr. De Quintal is currently working on two articles, one about the artist, Julie Buffalohead and one focusing on Southern New England Native American identity and material culture. She received her B.A. in anthropology from Cornell University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in Cultural Anthropology. 

Nina Del Rio, Vice Chairman, Americas | Head of Museum Private and Corporate Art Services, Sotheby’s

Nina del Rio joined Sotheby’s as an intern in 1988, and became Director of Sotheby’s Contemporary Print Department in 1996, after having worked at Marlborough Gallery publishing prints in the interim.  She helped to launch Sotheby’s online auctions from 1999-2003, first as General Manager of Sotheby’s partnership with Amazon, and next as a leader in Sotheby’s strategic partnership with eBay.  She became director of Sotheby’s Museum Services Department in 2004, additionally managing the North and South American Regional offices in from 2008-2009.  Under her leadership, the department has expanded to include the management of Private and Corporate Art Services.

During Ms. del Rio’s tenure, and under her leadership, Sotheby’s has been privileged to offer the majority of American institutional collections to have come to market in the past decade.  In the same period, Sotheby’s made a significant commitment to museums, with the introduction of the Sotheby’s Preferred program - with over 350 Museum partners globally - Sotheby’s Museum Network, and the recently introduced Sotheby’s Prize, which awards $250,000 to a museum exhibition annually.

Ms. del Rio graduated cum laude from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History, with minors in Political Science and French.  She took part in the Museum Studies program at the École du Louvre in Paris for one year, after which she worked at PS1 in Long Island City, New York.  

Julie Hart, Senior Director for Museum Standards and Excellence, American Alliance of Museums

Julie Hart is the Senior Director for Museum Standards and Excellence at the American Alliance of Museums. She has been engaged with AAM’s Accreditation and Museum Assessment programs, and other efforts to nurture institutional excellence throughout her 20+ year tenure at AAM—providing her with insight into the best practices and challenges faced by museums of all sizes and types.  She is an internationally sought after expert to speak, train, and advise on the US models of museum and non-profit standards and accreditation. She holds an M.A. and B.A in Art History, and a B.A. in International Affairs.

John P. Lukavic, Curator of Native Arts, Denver Art Museum

John P. Lukavic, Ph.D. is the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Native Arts at the Denver Art Museum and serves as department head where he conducts and presents scholarly research, develops exhibitions, collects Native arts, and disseminates knowledge of the Denver Art Museum’s American Indian, African, and Oceanic collections. Dr. Lukavic is also responsible for DAM’s collaboration with Native American communities and the implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). He has organized the recent exhibitions: Jeffrey Gibson: Like A Hammer (2018), Stampede: Animals in Art (2017), and Super Indian: Fritz Scholder, 1967-1980 (2015).

Lauren Silverson, Director of Registration and Collections, Portland Museum of Art

Lauren has been working in Museum Registration for over 25 years and has been a part of the deaccessioning of over three hundred works of art from the permanent collections of two museums, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

She has worked with curators, directors, collection committees and potential vendors for sales, thus providing her with extensive understanding and logistics of the process. Additionally, she has worked on and completed updates to the PMA’s Collections Management Policy which is integral to the PMA’s and all museum’s successful deaccessioning programs.