Missoula County museum staff outline plan to deaccession items from county collection

Museum staff presented a plan to deaccession items from the Missoula County portion of the county museum collection to improve stewardship and clarify the collection.

Pam Bridal and Margot said staff have been reviewing the county’s portion of the museum collection and identified items that have not been used for a long time or no longer fit the museum’s collecting scope. The first priority is to rehouse objects in other public collections through gift or exchange; sales are described as a last resort. Staff said they will attempt to contact living artists or donors and defer to families’ wishes where appropriate.

Bridal described the outreach and placement process as deliberate and relationship-focused, saying, "Sales is the last one. We're really not interested in making money. We wanna see these pieces, be used, be utilized, and in the public realm." She also said staff will record decisions carefully, notify artists or donor families when possible, and prevent MAM employees or associates from acquiring deaccessioned objects to avoid conflicts of interest.

Staff said recommendations are vetted by a collection committee comprised of artists, professionals and community members; they estimated about eight or nine committee members plus staff. According to staff, deaccession recommendations require a supermajority—three quarters—of the collection committee to forward a recommendation to the commissioners. Commissioners were told the deaccession recommendations will return as an action item at an upcoming meeting for formal approval.

Commissioners thanked staff for the work and asked staff to bring the vetted recommendations back to the board for action at the next available meeting.