Policies & Procedures

Administrative Procedure: 3401

ART COLLECTION

The Art Collection of the College has grown into a significant permanent collection of contemporary artworks and is an aesthetic enhancement to the campus providing inspiration and access to art experiences for students and the community.

To maintain the quality and care of the Art Collection, an Arts Acquisition Committee (“Committee”) will be established which will make recommendations (as delineated in section “Consultation, Review, Recommendation, and Approval) for accepting or declining gifts of art or deaccessioning existing artwork. The Committee will be chaired by the Administrator of the Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission (“Administrator”), and supported by an Arts Advisory Panel (“Panel”) consisting of three art professionals appointed by the Committee.

Objects of art will only be accepted through approved donations as detailed below.

Donor Provides Written Proposal

The prospective donor of a gift of a work of art must submit a written proposal or letter of intent to the Administrator to include:

• Donor’s full contact information including name, address, telephone number, and email address;
• The artist’s name, the full title of the work, edition information (for prints), medium, and dimensions of the work; prints of an original piece of artwork must be numbered and signed by the artist;
• Information on the artist (biography, curriculum vitae, artist’s statement), as well as information on purchase and past ownership;
• Images of the artwork either on disc or by printed photographs (digital files of the work should be at least 72 dpi resolution); and
• The donor’s clear title to donated art and authenticity of the work.

Consultation, Review, Recommendation, and Approval

The Administrator will consult with the donor regarding the proposed gift. After this consultation, the Administrator will provide donation information to the Panel for discussion and review.

Once the Panel has discussed and reviewed the donation information, the Administrator will provide the Committee with the Panel’s proposal to either accept or decline the gift. This proposal will include the donor’s information, an estimated value of the artwork, and, if accepted, a proposed location for the artwork. The Committee will review all proposed gifts of works of art after considering the Administrator’s recommendations.

The Committee will vote and make a final recommendation to the Chief Academic Officer to accept or decline the proposed gift. The Chief Academic Officer will forward the recommendation of the Committee to the President for approval by the Board of Trustees.

College Agreement

Upon acceptance, a legal agreement between the donor and the College addressing issues of ownership, copyright, liabilities, and deaccession will be signed by both parties.

Criteria for Acceptance

Recognizing that selection and/or determining acceptance of public art can be controversial, subjective, and technically difficult, the Committee and Advisory Panel will consider the following criteria in the acquisition of public art.

Above all, proposed art should support the educational, values, and creative purpose of the College.

Quality: Selections will be chosen based on a variety of factors:

• Artistic quality, design, craftsmanship, and artistic content;
• Expansion of the College’s public Art Collection with a breath of themes, subjects, media, and styles that are memorable, thought provoking, and enduring;
• Recognition and fostering a variety of societal, historic, and community values;
• Enhancing the intellectual understanding of art; and
• Local, regional, and societal impact.

Permanence: Due consideration will be given to the structural and surface soundness, and to inherent resistance to theft, vandalism, weathering, and excessive maintenance or repair costs.

Public Liability: Each work will be examined for conditions or factors that may bear upon public liability and safety.

Duplication: The Committee will accept unique, one-of-a-kind works of art with the noted exception of prints, photographs, or a desirable high-quality limited-edition work of art by a renowned artist. Proposed gifts will be rigorously evaluated in terms of their context within the existing collection.

Memorial Gifts: Memorial gifts will also be judged by the following additional criteria:

• The person or event being memorialized must be deemed significant enough to merit such an honor;
• The memorial represents broad community values; and/or
• The memorial has timeless qualities that will be meaningful for future generations.

Removal, Relocation, or Deaccessioning of Gifts of Art

In accepting a gift of artwork, neither the College nor the Board will be bound by any agreement with the donor that restricts their responsibility to act in the best interests of the College and community. Nothing in the acceptance of a gift of artwork will prevent the Committee from approving subsequent removal, relocation, or deaccessioning of such gifts if it serves the College’s best interest to do so. The Committee will deaccession or dispose of works of art in its collection for one or more of the following reasons:

• The artwork cannot be relocated;
• The condition or security of the artwork cannot be reasonably guaranteed;
• The artwork has been damaged or has deteriorated and repair is impractical or unfeasible;
• The artwork endangers public safety;
• The artwork requires excessive maintenance; or
• The artwork no longer reflects the values of the College.

The Committee will meet at least annually with the Advisory Panel to consider proposals for relocation of art to another location within the College and to redistribute and provide appropriate display to benefit the entire College community.

The decision to deaccession an artwork will result when two-thirds of the Committee votes in favor of that action. Upon this decision to deaccession artwork, every step will be taken to arrive at a mutual balance between observing the rights of the artist and maintaining the quality of the collection.

Actions in Order of Priority

• Trade through artist, gallery, museum, or other institutions for one or more other artwork(s) of comparable value by the same artist;
• Sale through art auction, art gallery, or dealer;
• Long term/indefinite/permanent loan to museum collection or governmental agency; or
• Gift back to the original artist.

The College and Board of Trustees, after consultation with the Committee, reserves the right to sell or donate any artwork in the College’s collection.

References:

Rowan College of South Jersey Board of Trustees Policy Manual, 3401 Art Collection; 6301 Gift Acceptance

Rowan College of South Jersey Administrative Procedure, 6301 Gift Acceptance