Date: June 2026
Supersedes: New Policy
Purpose
The purpose of Montgomery County Community College’s (MCCC/the College) Management of Art Collection (the Collection) policy is to recommend standards for the solicitation to the Office of Institutional Advancement, acquisition and accession, installation and display, storage, conservation, deaccession, and loan. The Montco Cultural Center manages artwork from the College’s Collection to align with its mission and vision of the institution as well as adherence to professional standards for museums and galleries. 1
1. Use of Collection
Whether for pedagogic, aesthetic, or documentary value, use of the Collection will
be
prioritized for public display (on-campus or external loan) first and private display
second.
Public display includes areas where students, employees, and the community have
unobstructed exposure to the Collection (e.g., hallways, atriums, galleries, classrooms,
and open spaces).
Private displays include waiting areas in office suites, conference rooms, or other locations inaccessible to or secured from the public. On occasion, Collection items may be removed from private displays when public display requests are received. The College’s Collection will not be displayed inside the individual offices of employees.
2. Acquisitions
The Montgomery County Community College (PA) Legacy Fund Gift Acceptance policy
(MCCC [PA] Legacy Fund) and procedures will be followed upon approval of an acquisition.
For donations through the MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund and for original works created by
artists in residence as part of their residencies, the donor must provide a signed
Deed of Gift andIn-Kind Gift Form which will become part of the accession record for
the artwork and retained in perpetuity by the Montco Cultural Center.
A. Acquisition Criteria
Acquisitions, either by purchase or donation, will prioritize artwork closely associated
with the College and its students or those that would most closely benefit the College
community. Criteria for acquisition include, but are not limited to:
• Student artwork
• Alumni artwork
• Artwork created or made in the course of a College or MCCC (PA) Legacy
Fund project
• Artwork created onsite by artists-in-residence as part of their residency
• Other work from Montgomery County artists or from professional artists
The College and MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund reserve the right to reject any items that
do not meet the above criteria or are otherwise determined not to align to the
mission, vision, values and equity statement of the College. The following include
reasons the College will not accept donation of or consider for purchase an artwork
for the Collection:
• The artwork was not created by any group listed in the acquisition criteria.
• The artwork does not meet the mission and vision, values and equity
statements of the College.
• The artwork’s authenticity or provenance2 are unknown or questionable.
• The artwork’s condition is poor.
• The donor includes stipulations for display or interpretation of the artwork.
• The maintenance of the artwork is beyond the financial means of the College
B. Acquisition Process
Both the College’s Montco Cultural Center and the MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund may
purchase artwork for the benefit of the College community and for accession into its
Collection. All such purchases will follow the criteria in 2A.
Artwork purchased by employees for personal use are not be considered part of the
Collection. Privately purchased artworks shall not adhere to this policy, however,
the
employee should follow any departmental procedures or supervisory approvals if
they want to display the artwork in their office.
i. Donations Process
Only the MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund may accept donations on behalf of the
College. Upon offer of donation, the following process will be executed:
• Artwork must be examined and documented by Montco Cultural
Center staff.
• If determined necessary by Montco Cultural Center staff and/or the L
MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund, the artwork may be appraised. See
Appraisal section below.
• If artwork aligns with Acquisition Criteria, the Montco Cultural Center
staff will recommend acquisition for approval to one or more of the
following: MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund, Senior Leadership, and/or the
President.
i. Appraisals and Insurance
Gifts in-kind will be valued by the MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund in an appropriate
manner aligned with GAAP, the Internal Revenue Service, and CASE
Reporting Standards. For donated personal property (e.g. artwork, book
collections, equipment) that is valued in excess of $500 but less than $5,000,
the donor completes Section A of IRS Form 8283 and includes with income
tax Form 1040.
Gifts over $5,000 require the donor to secure a written appraisal from a
qualified appraiser who physically inspects the artwork. Full responsibility rests
on the donor for claiming any charitable gift deductions, filing IRS Page 10 of 14
Form 8283, and obtaining and covering the cost of qualified appraisals or other documentation.
Full responsibility also rests on the donor for the value given to the artwork, and
donors will be expected to provide the MCCC (PA) Legacy Fund with a copy of a qualified
appraisal or documented fair market value, as well as proof of provenance.
The College recognizes that accurate values are impossible to determine for
such artwork as student pieces and original works created on campus
because there is no established market value for such pieces. In all such
cases, the College will assign a value based on the purchase price to
document the item for insurance purposes.
All values, whether appraised or based on purchase prices, will be
documented within a collections management system and shared with the
College’s fine arts insurer to ensure they are covered under its fine arts policy.
3. Deaccessioning
Deaccessioning is the process by which objects are formally removed from the Collection in a manner consistent with best practices in the field and the College’s commitment to ethics and integrity.3 The College will follow the best practices established by the American Alliance of Museums and practiced internationally for deaccessions, using proceeds from the sale of such artwork solely for the further growth of the Collection. The Montco Cultural Center is responsible for managing the deaccession process in conjunction with the College’s Procurement policy.
4. Artwork Loans
A. Loans Incoming
The College routinely borrows artwork from other collections and individuals for
display on its campuses or multiple works for larger exhibitions in its galleries.
The
College will care for loaned artwork with the same or greater degree of care that
it
provides its own Collection, including clean, secure display and storage locations,
and insurance under the College’s Fine Arts policy.
B. Loans Outgoing
The College may loan artwork from its Collection to internal
departments/divisions; as well as externally to partner organizations, schools,
or other entities whose display of college artwork benefits the College and its
community.
In all cases, the artwork must be insured nail-to-nail either under the
College’s Fine Arts Policy (primarily for internal loans) or the borrower’s
insurance (for loans outside the College). For external loans, a loan fee will
be assessed to cover shipping and transportation of the Collection.
C. Storage and Stewardships
The College recognizes that single-use, climate-controlled storage spaces may not
be available for its art collection but is nevertheless committed to storing artwork
in secure and appropriate spaces within its control. Much of the College’s collection
will be on open display throughout campus buildings and will be installed securely
using anti-theft hardware or other methods as appropriate. For those pieces that must
be stored, the Montco Cultural Center will prioritize secured access, clean, and environmentally
stable spaces to ensure the safety of the collection.
1“Professional Practices for Academic Museums & Galleries,” Association of Academic Museums & Galleries (June 2017): https://www.aamg-us.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/AAMG-Professinal-Practices-2018-web FINAL-rev043018.pdf. See also American Alliance of Museums “Core Standards": https://www.aam-us.org/programs/ethics-standards-and-professional-practices/core-standards-for-museums/.
2 Provenance (defined as the chain of ownership for a work of art, with an emphasis on documented owners and transitions of ownership). Donors must provide all provenance information they possess as part of their donation, including records of previous owners, proofs of purchase, publications, previous appraisals, etc. The College and Legacy Fund reserve the right to reject any potential donations on the grounds of unacceptable provenance.
3 “Guidelines on Deaccessioning,” The International Council of Museums (2019):https://icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/20170503_ICOM_standards_deaccessioning_final_EN-v2.pdf