A museum’s historic human remains are now the center of an ethics clash; The Washington Post, July 27, 2023

 Maura Judkis, The Washington Post; A museum’s historic human remains are now the center of an ethics clash

"The Mütter is a place for people who don’t fit in. And now, Eisenstein fears he can’t fit in here, either.

“People who have always felt othered” — for their physical abilities, their sexuality, their neurodivergence, their interest in death — “find their home in the museum,” says Polasky, the petitioner, who is now a curator for the British Online Archives.

Whether they can continue to do so depends on the answer to one question: What happens when the ethics of the 19th century meet those of the 21st?"

Museum ethics—more than lip service; Science, July 6, 2023

 H. HOLDEN THORP , Science; Museum ethics—more than lip service

"In the past few years, museums around the world have started to grapple with questions about the origins and ethics of their collections. This includes the acquisition and maintenance of natural history specimens. As museums examine their missions and processes, it seemed like a good time to talk to Sean Decatur, the new president of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. He spoke with me (see the full conversation here) about the museum’s research and how collaborations between museums and partner nations should aspire to assemble collections that responsibly disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the Universe."

Complaint Faults Museum Director for Hanging His In-Law’s El Greco; The New York Times, July 15, 2020

Graham Bowley, The New York Times; Complaint Faults Museum Director for Hanging His In-Law’s El Greco 

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.”"