Detroit Institute of Arts Would Be Safe Under City’s Bankruptcy Adjustment Plan

On Friday Detroit’s emergency manager Kevyn Orr released an adjustment plan to help the city rebound from bankruptcy, according to the Detroit Free Press, and which incorporates the so-called “grand bargain” that would see the Detroit Institute of Arts‘ collection safeguarded thanks to a collective $800- to $815-million rescue package raised by a coalition of state and national foundations (kicking in $350 million), the state of Michigan (contributing $350 million), and the museum itself (adding $100 million).

“Today is an historic day for the City of Detroit and, indeed, the entire State, and we at the DIA are very proud to be a major contributor to the Emergency Manager’s and Governor’s efforts and to be the custodian of this great museum,” Eugene A. Gargaro, Jr., the chairman of DIA’s board of directors, said in a statement released by the museum.

However, Michigan’s portion of that grand bargain money will likely come with many strings attached, as lawmakers pledge their support for governor Rick Snyder’s contribution on condition that others projects get pushed through, the Free Press notes, from a new water authority in Detroit, to making the DIA a state (rather than municipal) institution. The state’s portion of the grand bargain will come from a settlement that tobacco companies paid to the state in 1998.

Meanwhile, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan continues to accept donations to save DIA’s collection and boost the city’s pension funds.

Benjamin Sutton