Museums are running out of storage. Donations may be making it worse
A recent explosion of art donations risks overcrowding, improper care of art institutions' collections
Lovers of art and history can spend hours or even days at their local museum, examining hundreds or thousands of exhibits and artifacts on display.
But patrons might be disappointed to know what they see is likely only a tiny fraction of the museum's collection. In storage are more art and artifacts than the public will ever see, and those collections are growing faster than museums can handle.
"Storage is a challenge for every big and small collecting museum on this continent. They're bursting," said Nicholas Bell, CEO of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.
Museums in Canada face several challenges to housing and preserving their collections, let alone displaying those items. And overcrowding is becoming a bigger issue, experts say, from what might be a surprising source — Canadians donating way more fine art and artifacts than the museums can possibly use.
The Glenbow has been closed to the public for more than three years while undergoing a major renovation at a cost of $205 million. A major part of the project involves converting more of the eight-story building's floors into display space for the public. Even with the reno, Bell estimates the Glenbow will only be able to display a small fraction of its 250,000 pieces.
Just six per cent of works at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts are on display. At the Vancouver Art Gallery, that number is under one per cent, even taking into account three exhibitions touring as of early January.
In 2019, the Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property and the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators released a survey of nearly 400 Canadian cultural institutions including museums, archives and libraries.
Nearly 50 per cent of respondents said their collection size had doubled or more than doubled in the last 20 years, and about the same percentage said the objects in their care are at risk of damage due to improper storage.
Tax incentives for art donations
So why do museums have so much stuff? It turns out Canadians are a generous bunch.
As many baby boomers downsize — in a wave we've called "the great stuff transfer" — some have valuable art that they donate to cultural institutions.
This kind of philanthropy may come from a generous place. But it could also net the donor a hefty tax break.
"It's very lucrative for an individual to make a donation of [an] artifact to a charitable museum or a gallery," said Gena Rotstein, co-founder of the Calgary-based philanthropy firm Karma & Cents, which helps people figure out how and what to donate.
If a donation is certified as having "cultural property of outstanding significance," as determined by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB), you could get a better break than if you donated money, or art that hasn't been certified.
"The works do have to have some real significance in terms of of Canada's history, in terms of the broader, global cultural sphere," said Sharilyn Ingram, a former chair of the board from Grimsby, Ont.
When someone donates regular art, they'll get a donation tax credit that's calculated based on the item's capital gain — or the difference between what it was worth when you acquired or bought the item and what it's worth now.
"If it's certified cultural property, that capital gain is deemed to be zero, and you still get the donation tax credit," said Alberta-based tax accountant Matt Sharp.
"So you get something of a double benefit: you take an inherent capital gain off of yourself, which can ... matter in estate tax context in Canada, and you get a donation tax credit to reduce your taxes otherwise."
That benefit can save the donor a lot of money, Sharp said, because people who donate culturally and financially valuable art tend to be in high tax brackets.
The incentive dates back to the 1970s, when the federal government established the CCPERB to stem the tide of paintings, sculptures and Indigenous artifacts getting bought up by international collectors.
"It really was to ensure Canadiana stayed in Canada. What we didn't plan for was just this magnitude of gifts," Rotstein said.
"Not a lot of institutions actually are set up to manage them, let alone display them consistently or store them. Like, we just haven't invested in the infrastructure at the same rate that we have encouraged the donation of the artifacts."
Some museums and galleries, like the McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton, Ont., have put a pause on art donations.
Even when an institution is accepting new donations, that doesn't guarantee it'll want your beloved family heirloom.
"An art collector's specific esthetic interests may have little or no overlap with the mandate of their community institutions," Wendy Crawford, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators who is based in London, Ont., told CBC in an email.
The thorny museum-donor relationship
Cailin Broere, a Vancouver-based regional consultant and appraiser with the Bonhams auction house, says public art institutions have to walk a fine line building relationships with private donors.
"I think historically you've just seen institutions accepting things because, you know, the person has been very supportive of them during their lifetime and they feel like it's their responsibility," she said.
Relations with the public can get thorny, too, if an institution tries to sell part of its collection. It's called deaccessioning, and Bell says it can be a difficult and political process.
"Sometimes museums ... deaccession things because they're in some kind of financial crisis. It's very strongly discouraged and it gets a lot of bad press," he said.
The National Gallery of Canada landed in hot water in 2018 when it tried to sell European artist Marc Chagall's The Eiffel Tower. The hope was to raise between $6 and $9 million US to fund the acquisition of another work: French painter Jacques-Louis David's Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgment.
That painting is owned by the Notre Dame Parish in Quebec City; buying it would have prevented it from leaving Canada, as reports at the time suggested the parish had been seeking potential international buyers. The gallery reneged, pulling The Eiffel Tower from auction after public outcry.
Just give cash, say some experts
Broere says donors should consider giving money to institutions instead to help them better maintain the collections they already have.
"It's just the difference between giving them a liability," she said. "It could [go] towards new exhibitions with artists [or] towards an acquisition of a work that fills a hole within their own collection."
One expert notes that just because part of a museum's collection is out of sight, doesn't mean it's out of mind.
Art and artifacts are "preserved and studied and interpreted for future societies," said Ingram, former chair of the CCPERB.
Access to collections and the knowledge they carry has accelerated in recent years, she said, such as through virtual databases that have grown in use, especially during the early pandemic years.
"You have to look, I think, at the whole broader societal and educational mission of a museum…. These are places whose mandates extend way into the past and should extend way into the future."
Audio produced by Danielle Nerman