A
whistle-blower accusation argues that conflict-of-interest rules to
prevent self-dealing have been skirted at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
"“It’s a common
practice for American museums to engage collectors and patrons asking
them to loan paintings,” he said in an interview.
But
his answers have failed to satisfy the museum employees who filed the
complaint at a time when other concerns, including ones about Mr.
Salort-Pons’s management style and about DIA’s treatment of its Black
employees, are roiling the institute.
They
say that a lack of transparency surrounding the artwork cloaked a
situation that could financially benefit the director and his family,
since a painting’s exhibition in the institute could burnish its value.
Some ethics experts, too, said he probably didn’t go far enough in disclosing his family’s interest.
“A
museum official (or close relative) who loans an object to the museum
for display then sells it after exhibition would likely earn an enhanced
price for the object,” said Greg Stevens, director of the Institute of
Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University. “And it would also cause the
appearance of impropriety to arise — namely, that the museum used its
prestige, resources, and reach to enrich the official.”"
