Art Collection Procedure

Given its size and stature within the Canadian educational and cultural landscape, Humber has a strong interest in developing and maintaining a collection of art and artifacts that can be employed to inform and educate students, staff, and the community. In addition, Humber has a vast number of programs that have a focus on fine and applied arts, including design. A collection of art and artifacts is a prerequisite for the education and support of students in and graduates from these programs.

While the institutional interest in art and artifacts can justifiably be quite broad, there needs to be constraints employed for the strategic development of a collection and the adoption of a strategy that will, in time, lead to coherency and maximize educational value within the framework of capacity.

The following are principles and procedures that are intended to guide the development of an institutional collection for a ten-year period (concluding in 2032), following which these principles will be reviewed and renewed.

1. The development, organization, operation, presentation, acquisition, sale, deaccession, loan etc. related to the institutional collection, including Humber's galleries, is managed by the Director with support from the HACC. The nature of art and challenges associated with building a collection are such that the Director must be free to make strategic decisions, within budget and other operational constraints. Collection and operational decisions will be reviewed annually by the President through a written report. The Director reports to the Vice President, Academic and manages free of direct influence from programming and special interests.

2. The Humber Arts Curatorial Committee is comprised of:

• Humber Galleries Director (Chair)
• Vice President, Academic
• One (1) Senior Dean or Associate Dean (typically from a school that offers arts programming)
• Two (2) Faculty Members (at least one of whom will teach in a fine or applied arts or design program)
• One (1) Director or senior manager from Finance
• One (1) Director or senior manager from Capital Development
• One (1) external community Member (typically drawn from an arts Program Advisory Committee

Humber Art Curatorial Committee Terms of Reference:

• The HACC is a standing committee and the sole recommending body with respect to the acquisition and deaccessioning of art for the College. The committee’s decisions should not be based on aesthetic or subjective evaluation of the artworks but on the criteria outlined in this document.
• The committee shall recognize the professional expertise of the Director and the staff of Humber Galleries.
• The primary responsibility of the committee will be to consider artworks proposed by the Director for acquisition and deaccession. The committee’s decision to approve or reject a proposal will be based on the exercise of due diligence in ensuring that the criteria for acquisition and deaccession are followed.

3. There are several broad categories of art and artifacts which the institution will target in the development of its collection:

1. Work from Students in Fine Arts and Design Programs
   • In determining which pieces will be purchased for the collection, the HACC will be the arbiter. Emphasis will be placed on acquiring pieces that represent each year of graduates, pieces from different programs, pieces that can be displayed in an institutional show (size, for example, could be a constraint), pieces that can be stored when not on display (again, size, for example, could be a constraint); pieces that reflect different media, and pieces from student artists who show the most potential to make a major contribution to their area of artistic expertise over their lifetimes, in other words, the collection will emphasize collecting the work of the most promising graduates subject to the institutional capacity to store and display the works.
   • The HACC will encourage input from faculty and program personnel, where applicable, in order to grow this component of the collection. The goal will be to ensure that within the next fifty years Humber will have a strong and representative collection of many of the best works created by students and faculty artists to that point in time. The Humber Arts Curatorial Committee may also, at its discretion, consider purchasing work completed by faculty or staff where that is thought to dramatically enhance the collection and when funds are available.
2. Art and Artifacts Acquired Directly by Humber of Significance to the Local Community and City.
   • This art is acquired because they are of such significance to the local community as to support the educational process directly and materially in one or more programs or directly and materially support an overall beneficial atmosphere for students or student groups. For example, the HACC may develop a collection of figure drawings from known artists in support of the several Humber programs where figure drawing is fundamental to the student experience and the value of being able to reflect on and consider immediately and directly the work of successful artists is highly significant. Another example would be the development of a collection of Indigenous art and artifacts with the purpose of creating an environment that welcomes students of Indigenous backgrounds.
3. Art and Artifacts Offered through Donations or Bequests from individuals or Organizations
   While there will be many individuals and organizations willing to donate art and artifacts (and in some cases will do so with the expectation of a tax receipt), all such offers will be subject to the review and recommendation by the Director and the HACC. Proposed gifts of art must be referred to the office of the Director. Criterion employed by the Director and the HACC when considering donations will include:
   • stature of the artist who created the work (preference for national or international figures);
   • capacity for Humber to display and store and care for the work;
   • capacity for the work to inform the development of student artists at Humber;
   • capacity of the work to inspire students who may not be studying within fine or applied arts, or design programs;
   • appraised value (typically, for this category of collection development it will be expected that the work is appraised at or above $15,000 fair market value);
   • unencumbered and clear legal title;
   • adequate funding for maintenance, framing, conservation, storage, and expenses related to the installation of the artwork;
   • When a gift of art is received, the Office of the Director will acknowledge the Deed of Gift, prepare, and distribute a Gift Transmittal to the Office of the Chief Advancement Officer.
   • For tax receipt purposes, a recent professional appraisal conducted by an independent appraiser and compliant with the Universal Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), must be obtained by the donor and submitted to the College.
   • It is the responsibility of the donor to deliver the artwork to the campus; the Office of the Director must be notified when the artwork is scheduled to arrive on campus and indicate if special arrangements will need to be made.
   • Importantly, Humber will only under the most exceptional conditions accept a donated work or bequest with any stipulation that the institution must hold and maintain the work beyond five (5) years. The five (5) years or less provision allows the institution to lease, loan, trade, auction or sell the work to acquire other works that may be more directly, over time, central to the strategic development of the collection. Where a donated piece of art is deaccessioned, and new work(s) acquired with the funds realized from the sale, the new work will be designated as coming from the original donor "by way of exchange." Humber will not accept art or artifacts that require the institution to hold the work in perpetuity.

4. HACC will develop a strategic framework for Campus as a Canvas as it identifies specific areas of focus for collection development. The collection will strongly emphasize works that can be displayed or experienced rather than stored.

5. It is the responsibility of the Office of the Director to properly catalogue, research and preserve the collection as well as to ensure that it is appropriately insured and protected; registration and storage procedures should be evaluated periodically and a recorded inventory of works of art should be verified annually.

• It is the responsibility of the Office of Director to ensure that professional standards are met for all aspects of handling, display, storage, and transport of artworks.
• Only the Director and Humber Galleries staff are permitted to handle works of art or approve others to handle works in the College collection; all permanent a staff members of Humber Galleries will have the appropriate level of training for handling works of art and external vendors will be verified as having the appropriate level of expertise for the safe handling of objects by Humber Galleries staff.
• The collection will be examined on an on-going basis to identify, document and report on works that require conservation; the Director is responsible for initiating any conservation on a work of art; conservation work will only be carried out by a conservator or a person with appropriate training and expertise.

6. Permanent and Temporary Murals

• Proposals for permanent and temporary murals must be submitted in writing to the Director at least 60 days prior to the installation date.
• Requests for installation of murals must be accompanied by a technical rider and comprehensive and accurate graphic depiction of the piece in its proposed location, seen from multiple directions, as well as all infrastructure requirements and mounting details.
• Installation will be contingent upon approval of the use of the space by Humber and of the artist’s graphic depiction and/or body of work by the Director.
• The artist or Humber department/faculty submitting the proposal is responsible for all costs of installation and deinstallation, as well as any repairs that might be necessary while the art is in place and for site restoration, unless otherwise outlined in the letter of agreement.
• No permanent marker of any kind will be allowed to memorialize any mural after its deinstallation.

7. Outdoor and Indoor Temporary Art Proposals

Proposals for outdoor and indoor temporary art installations must be submitted in writing to the Director at least 60 days prior to the temporary installation date. The maximum duration for any temporary art installation is 12 months including installation and de-installation.

• Requests for installation of temporary art must be accompanied by a technical rider and comprehensive and accurate graphic depiction of the piece in its proposed location, seen from multiple directions, as well as all infrastructure requirements and mounting details.
• Installation will be contingent upon approval of the use of the space by Humber.
• The artist or partner institution is responsible for all costs of installation and deinstallation, as well as any repairs that might be necessary while the art is in place and for site restoration, unless otherwise outlined in the letter of agreement.
• Public safety provisions must be explicitly addressed in the proposal, e.g., wind loads, climbing hazards, visibility, etc.
• No permanent marker of any kind will be allowed to memorialize any piece of temporary art after its deinstallation.

8. De-accessioning

• A decision to remove an artwork from the College’s collection must be carefully considered by the Director and the HACC.
• Items must be regularly reviewed by the Director for purposes of deaccessioning. The following criteria should be considered, cost of storage and maintenance, use being made of stored works for academic purposes, the condition of the work has deteriorated, the work is a duplicate or does not add significantly to the College’s collection, the work should be repatriated.
• To deaccession an artwork, the College’s legal ownership must be confirmed and any special restrictions the donor and/or artist may have placed on the artwork's use or disposition must be considered.
• The Director will consult with the Office of the Chief Legal, Risk and Privacy Officer with respect to all such restrictions.
• The donor and/or artist or their respective estates may be notified of a pending disposal of artwork to insure good will even if there is no legal requirement to notify the donor or artist.
• If the artwork will be deaccessioned by sale, the appropriate market should be determined by the Director and the HACC, for example, public auction, commercial gallery or private dealer, or a trade/exchange with another institution.
• All proceeds realized from disposal will be credited to the Humber Galleries Operating Fund and will be applied to the costs of purchasing artworks for the Collection and the restoration and conservation of works in the Collection.
• A record of the decision to remove a work of art, and appropriate documents and images relating to the work, should be retained permanently.

9. Loans

• Institutional loans of College artworks are arranged and approved by the Office of the Director.
• The following credit line is required be placed in proximity to the loan and in related publications “Courtesy of the Humber Galleries Collection, Toronto Ontario.”
• The Office of the Director should receive and retain copies of loan agreements and collateral publications in which loaned College artwork is published.
• Humber Galleries staff will ensure that all works selected for loan are in sound condition, fully documented and capable of being safely transported.
• Loans of artworks will only be made to public institutions that can ensure that professional standards of care will be met. No loans of art will be made to private individuals.

10. Reproduction of Artworks for Publication

• Requests to reproduce College artwork should be referred to the Office of the Director.
• The College can grant such permission only to the extent of its ownership interest in the artwork. Ownership will be confirmed by the Office of the Chief Legal Risk and Privacy Officer and the Office of the Director. Approval of artwork photo-reproduction requests is dependent upon the approval of the Office of the Director.
• The following credit line is required be included and in related publications “Courtesy of the Humber Galleries Collection, Toronto Ontario.”