Should academic institutions sell their art to balance budgets?

800px-Institute_of_Contemporary_Art,_Boston

ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) on Boston's Waterfront. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

Inside Higher Ed reports that some academic institutions are having trouble hanging on to their art collections in the face of tight budgets.

Fortunately, BU is not in this position as it is not a collecting institution.  This is because our students have a broad array of galleries and renowned museums from which to choose in their own backyard.  This is in keeping with the general mission and philosophy of BU to be in and of the City of Boston but open to the world.

I urge students to take advantage of the inspiration, knowledge, and exhilaration Boston’s museums provide.

From the political, yet deeply personal Mark Bradford show at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) to the Arts Abroad: London, Paris, Venice and Rome show at the Museum of Fine Arts, and of course, the new Americas Wing (free admission to full-time BU students to MFA).

Near the MFA is the charming one-of-a kind Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where masterpieces by Bellini, Manet, Matisse, and Michelangelo, among others, are still hung where Mrs. Stewart wanted them.

Boston gallery guide.

Don’t overlook the Harvard museums: Sackler, Fogg, and Busch-Resinger.