Southampton city council is to sell one or more items from its designated art collection to fundraise for a new £28m museum to house the city's non-art holdings. An announcement about what would be sold was expected at the end of last month.
Janet Owen, the arts and heritage manager at the council, said the collections review project that began in September last year is in part to search for items for disposal.
"We are looking at potential candidates for disposal and very few items in terms of more financially motivated but still ethical disposal."
The review of the art collection is completed. Archaeology is underway, and the maritime and archive collection review is expected to be finished in March 2010.
The city council is to contribute £5m towards the first phase (£15m) of the new "heritage museum" project, which will include the city's maritime collections and a Titanic gallery. The £5m is expected to come from the sale of property assets as well as the sale of artworks.
Southampton council has been in consultation with the Museums Association (MA) and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) on the matter. Vanessa Trevelyan, the chairwoman of the MA's ethics committee, said the committee would consider whether the appropriate ethical processes have been followed.
And she added: "Ideally selling to another museum should be the first option. But we accept that isn't always possible."
An MLA spokesman said: "We are sympathetic to their aims to improve the service in the city but that doesn't imply that we support all decisions that may be made on the way to getting there. We are engaged in giving advice. Any decision made [by them] should not adversely affect the designation status."
Janet Owen, the arts and heritage manager at the council, said the collections review project that began in September last year is in part to search for items for disposal.
"We are looking at potential candidates for disposal and very few items in terms of more financially motivated but still ethical disposal."
The review of the art collection is completed. Archaeology is underway, and the maritime and archive collection review is expected to be finished in March 2010.
The city council is to contribute £5m towards the first phase (£15m) of the new "heritage museum" project, which will include the city's maritime collections and a Titanic gallery. The £5m is expected to come from the sale of property assets as well as the sale of artworks.
Southampton council has been in consultation with the Museums Association (MA) and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) on the matter. Vanessa Trevelyan, the chairwoman of the MA's ethics committee, said the committee would consider whether the appropriate ethical processes have been followed.
And she added: "Ideally selling to another museum should be the first option. But we accept that isn't always possible."
An MLA spokesman said: "We are sympathetic to their aims to improve the service in the city but that doesn't imply that we support all decisions that may be made on the way to getting there. We are engaged in giving advice. Any decision made [by them] should not adversely affect the designation status."
