What Deaccessioning Means for Museum Collections

Deaccessioning is the formal removal of an object from a museum’s collection, usually through a process set out in the institution’s policy. It can make room for a collection more closely aligned with the museum’s purpose, but it also raises questions about stewardship, public trust and what happens to the object next.

Because museums hold collections for the public, deaccessioning is not simply a matter of selling or giving away an unwanted work. The reasons, decision-making process and destination of an object all shape how the choice is understood—and why it can be so contentious.

• 1 Formal meaning: removal of an item from a museum’s permanent collection
• 2 Possible distinctions to check: collection status and ownership
• 2 Permitted uses of sale proceeds in the supplied summary: new collection acquisitions or direct collection care
• 0 Permitted uses identified in the supplied summary for operating funds or general endowment

What deaccessioning means in a museum

Deaccessioning is the formal administrative removal of an item from a museum’s permanent collection, not necessarily its sale or physical removal from the building. It changes how the museum classifies the object: the item is no longer part of the permanent collection, but it may remain in the museum’s possession.

The Art Institute of Chicago distinguishes deaccessioning from disposal: its policy says the museum can continue to own an object after it has been deaccessioned, while disposal transfers ownership. The Canadian Museum of Health Care makes a separate distinction between collection status and location: an item may be deaccessioned and still sit on the same shelf.

These distinctions mean that the word “deaccessioning” alone does not establish what happened to an object physically or who owns it afterward. To know whether it was sold, transferred, or remains in the building, those outcomes must be established separately from the change in collection status.

How deaccessioning differs from selling or transferring an artwork

Deaccessioning changes an artwork’s status in a museum’s permanent collection; selling transfers ownership in exchange for payment. The Art Institute of Chicago’s policy defines deaccessioning as removal from its permanent collection and disposal as transfer of ownership, making them distinct acts.

Status is not location

A deaccessioned object may remain owned by the museum and stay on its premises, even though it is no longer part of the permanent collection. The Art Institute of Chicago’s definitions make clear that collection status and ownership are separate questions.

Collection removal is not automatically a sale

Disposal may follow deaccessioning, but it is not synonymous with it. A transfer can change who holds an object without payment; the provided material does not specify a single procedure or destination for such a transfer.

• Deaccessioning: removes an artwork from the permanent collection; ownership and location can remain unchanged.
• Selling: transfers ownership in exchange for payment.
• Disposal: transfers ownership, as defined in the Art Institute of Chicago’s policy; it may occur after deaccessioning.

When can a museum sell a deaccessioned object?

A museum may sell a deaccessioned object when no legal restriction prevents its removal and the museum follows the American Alliance of Museums’ field-wide ethical standards and its own collections policy. Deaccessioning is the formal decision to remove an object from the permanent collection; selling it is one possible way to dispose of it, not what deaccessioning itself means.

For a sale to meet the supplied guidance, the museum must direct the proceeds to the collection, not to general spending. The permitted uses are:

• Acquisition: buying new objects for the collection.
• Direct care: caring for the collection itself.

Operating costs and a general endowment are not permitted uses of the proceeds under that guidance. Whether a particular sale is responsible therefore depends on both the museum’s legal and policy checks before removal and its use of the money afterward.

Why do museums remove objects from a permanent collection?

Museums remove objects from a permanent collection to refine and strengthen its quality, use, character, scope and appropriateness—not simply to raise money. A position paper hosted by Tacoma Art Museum describes deaccessioning as a means of improving institutional holdings, so the rationale is whether an object belongs in the collection, not whether it can be sold.

That judgment requires assessing an object’s value and whether keeping it serves the museum’s aims. Removal from the permanent collection is a formal decision; a sale is a possible later step, not the definition of deaccessioning. If an object is sold, the stated restrictions direct proceeds to acquiring collection objects or providing direct care for the collection, rather than general operating costs.

Policy and ethics guide the decision

The American Alliance of Museums says a responsible deaccessioning decision must comply with the museum’s own collections policy and applicable legal constraints, as well as ethical principles and field-wide standards. These safeguards make collection improvement—not unrestricted fundraising—the governing purpose.

What are the limits and risks of deaccessioning?

Deaccessioning is limited by legal restrictions, the museum’s collections policy and professional standards; selling an object does not, by itself, make its removal permissible. The American Alliance of Museums treats the absence of legal constraints as a condition for responsible deaccessioning, alongside compliance with the museum’s own policy and field-wide ethical standards.

Common misconception: every deaccessioned object is sold.

Deaccessioning changes an object’s status in the permanent collection; disposal is a separate decision about transferring ownership. The Art Institute of Chicago’s policy explicitly distinguishes the two: a museum can deaccession an object and still own it, so the object need not be sold or physically removed.

• Legal constraints: If a legal restriction prevents removal, the American Alliance of Museums’ condition for responsible deaccessioning is not met.
• Sale proceeds: When a deaccessioned object is sold, the supplied summary restricts proceeds to acquiring collection objects or providing direct care of the collection—not operating expenses or a general endowment.
• Policy and standards: A sale that bypasses the museum’s collections policy or relevant field-wide standards fails the conditions described by the American Alliance of Museums, even if the museum has decided it no longer wants the object in its collection.

How do governance and public trust shape the decision?

Museum governance and public trust depend on treating deaccessioning as a formal collection decision, not simply as a sale. The American Alliance of Museums says a museum must follow its own collections policy, alongside legal constraints, ethical principles and field-wide standards.

What the decision changes

A museum’s collections policy sets the institutional rules for assessing whether an object should leave the permanent collection. The decision involves evaluating the object and its place in the collection; a sale, if permitted, is only one possible later step.

• Deaccessioned: the object is removed from the permanent collection; that status change does not by itself establish that it was sold or physically moved.
• Transferred: ownership passes to another party, which is different from the administrative act of deaccessioning.
• Sold: the object is disposed of through a sale. The stated standards require sale proceeds to support new acquisitions or direct care of the collection, not general operating expenses.

Clear explanations help the public distinguish these outcomes: they show whether the object’s collection status changed, whether ownership changed, and whether it left the museum. That distinction makes the decision more accountable and avoids presenting every deaccession as a sale.

Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

• Deaccessioning means formal removal from the permanent collection—not necessarily a sale.
• The Art Institute of Chicago distinguishes collection removal from disposal, or transfer of ownership.
• A deaccessioned object may remain museum-owned and may stay in its physical location.
• The supplied summary restricts sale proceeds to collection acquisitions or direct collection care.

Written byClara Loxley

Clara Loxley covers museum and gallery exhibitions across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Her writing places current shows in context, connecting artists’ practices with the histories and ideas that shape them.