One more note on all those works flying out of the public trust in Philadelphia:
I liked this final quote from the Atwater Kent's new director, in response to those who wonder "what guarantees" are in place to ensure that there won't be additional sales "every time there's a debt." His answer:
"I wouldn't permit that."
A great answer to the slippery slopists. Once we sell one work, what's to stop us from selling thousands of works? How do we keep from sliding down the slope?
The answer: we just do. We say: I wouldn't permit that.
As I wrote in a related context about a year ago:
"If you're worried about paying your gas, electric, and water bills with deaccessioning proceeds ... don't pay your gas, electric, and water bills with deaccessioning proceeds. ... Problem solved. The slope really isn't that slippery. You just have to plow the roads now and then. In fact, that's pretty close to the situation we have now. Works can be (and quite frequently are) sold for one purpose -- to raise acquisition funds -- and no one goes around worrying that, if we go down this road, we'll end up paying our gas, electric and water bills with deaccessioning proceeds. People understand that you don't have to slide down the slope. You can just stop."
