A brief story in the Detroit News acknowledging the return of appraisers from Christie’s to value artwork purchased by the City of Detroit for the Emergency Manager contains an unambiguous quote from nearby Macomb County’s leadership that makes clear what’s at stake. The debate is not, as so many have tried to make it out to be, about  whether art is important to Detroit’s civic culture or its future.

The question is simply who pays for the art and whether the surrounding counties want to have access to Detroit’s art without having to help pay for it. Macomb County’s executive. Mark A. Hackel, went out of his way to reassure his constituents that the additional taxes residents were paying to fund DIA’s operating costs would cease if any of the art the City had bought is sold.

“The intent of Macomb County voters was to support the Detroit Institute of Arts and its assets,” said Macomb assistant county executive Melissa Roy, “not to contribute to the financial solvency of Detroit.”

The cancellation clause was written into the language of the contract between the Macomb County Arts Authority and the DIA after the millage passed. The authority is the liaison between the museum and the county.

After the Oakland County Art Institute Authority unanimously passed a resolution Aug. 20 that would invalidate their millage if any art is sold, Hackel wanted to assure Macomb residents that safeguards were already in place, Roy said.

Christie’s returns to Detroit to plan appraisal of DIA art (Detroit News)

A reader pointed to this video from May of 2013 where Bill Nowling references the Emergency Manager’s mysterious plan to sell “covenants” on the art in DIA that would allow the art to stay in place while earning the City money. Combined with Nowling’s hints that Christie’s is working on a plan that will allow the DIA’s art to earn money without being sold, there may be more twists coming in this tale.

Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr wants appraisal of collection at Detroit Institute of Arts

Mark Guarino pokes around the Detroit bankruptcy issue and finds some interesting comments on the question of selling Detroit’s art to reduce the city’s debt. Kevyn Orr, the Emergency Manager of the city, has been evaluating a number of schemes from parking meters to selling abandoned land that might generate cash for the city.

Although Christie’s has been hired to perform an appraisal, there’s no indication the art is being used as anything more than an eye-catching bargaining chip. Then, again, maybe that’s just because no one’s letting their imaginations run wild.

Orr could potentially lease the artwork as collateral to raise money for a loan, says Dennis Enright, a national expert in privatization of government assets with NW Financial in Hoboken, N.J.

“You could create a revenue stream around it. It’s definitely not a normal governmental world activity, but certainly private collectors use their art as collateral and bet it against for their own private interests,” Mr. Enright said.

Detroit bankruptcy: Will city’s storied art collection be sold? (MinnPost)