Reuters: Bankruptcy News: Detroit area tries to protect world-class art from bankruptcy

Reuters: Bankruptcy News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Want to speak effortlessly in any situation? Actress Alexa Fisher will teach you tips that will set you on the road to success. From our sponsors

Detroit area tries to protect world-class art from bankruptcy Aug 13th 2013, 23:52 By Joseph Lichterman DETROIT | Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:52pm EDT DETROIT Aug 13 (Reuters) - A Detroit metropolitan county is threatening to cut funding to the city's art museum if Detroit's bankruptcy filing leads to the sale of any of its collection which includes works by Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt and Diego Rivera. The Oakland County Art Institute Authority will vote next Tuesday on whether to stop distributing property tax revenue to the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) if Detroit's emergency manager decides to sell any of its artwork or divert funds from the museum to pay the city's creditors. Last year, voters in suburban Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties approved a property tax levy to provide the DIA up to $23 million annually for its operations. Oakland County taxpayers were expected to provide $9.8 million of the total. The authority is taking the vote to put the city "on notice," said chairman Thomas Guastello. He said Detroit would be violating the counties' agreement with the DIA if it moved to monetize any DIA assets to pay the city's debt after it filed for the largest ever municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. "This violates the core of the issue that was brought to the voters," he said. Macomb and Wayne County, where Detroit is located, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The DIA has one of the top six art collections in the United States, according to the museum's website. It is known for a self portrait by Vincent Van and vast murals by Mexican artist Diego Rivera depicting "Detroit Industry." Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder have repeatedly said that they do not want to sell any of the museum's collection. Orr told Reuters last week that he's not ruled out any options for ways to monetize the collection. Orr's spokesman Bill Nowling said the city does not plan to sell the DIA art but is open to alternative plans that may raise money for the city. Christie's, the auction house Orr hired to estimate a value for the collection, may provide options to a sale, Nowling said. "Christie's wants to come to the table with alternatives that generate revenue, substantial revenue, without changing the ownership of the art," Nowling said. "They didn't just want to come and value the art. They wanted to come and find a solution that would preserve the art. The museum and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette have contended that the art cannot be sold because it is held in a charitable trust for the people of Michigan. (Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall; editing by Andrew Hay) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions