3/28/11 - Financial Times: Jane Wilton, Trust General Counsel, on Donations of Artwork

Museums and art galleries across the globe are lined with works whose labels include the words “the gift of”. But behind those words lie a complex set of choices that all donors need to make before handing over their cultural assets – from tax considerations to decisions on where and how the work should be displayed.

First, there is the question of what the donation should accomplish. “You need to step back and ask if you want it to be displayed, or whether your goal is that it’s to be sold to support the organisations you’re passionate about,” says Jane Wilton, general counsel at the New York Community Trust, a US foundation that also advises donors on how to become effective grantmakers. Read more>>