Image of Exhibition Catalog, "Fern I. Coppedge: A Forgotten Woman." James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1990.

Maintaining ethical integrity has become a pressing concern in this time when trust in public institutions seems to be on the decline and the need for financial support has increased. A recent study by the American Association of Museums showed that the general public still holds museums to be among the most trusted institutions. Very shortly after I assumed my job as director of the Michener Art Museum in 1990, I faced the first of what would become a common ethical challenge as I strove to balance my responsibility to find the resources to maintain and grow the museum with my responsibility to uphold the institution’s independent artistic judgment and ethical integrity.

One of the first exhibitions I developed was the retrospective, Fern I. Coppedge: A Forgotten Woman. As part of that exhibit, the Museum wanted to publish an illustrated catalog as a permanent record of the exhibition. It was to be the first of many such publications the Museum would produce. The publication was to cost $28,000 for writing, editing, design, photography, printing and binding of 2,000 copies. One of my many jobs was to find the money to produce the book. I decided to ask collectors of Coppedge’s paintings who were lending works for the exhibition. One of the major collectors at the time was an individual who did not live in this community but who had the ability to help fund the book. I asked him for a $20,000 contribution, which unexpectedly generated my first true ethical challenge. Read More »