Deaccession for Dummies

Hey there! So, the word "deaccession" might sound a bit fancy, but it's actually a pretty simple concept. So, when a museum or art gallery has too many pieces in their collection, they might need to get rid of some of them to make room for new ones or to raise money. That's where "deaccessioning" comes in. It's the process of formally removing an object from a museum's collection. It might seem kind of sad to think about getting rid of artwork or historical pieces, but sometimes it's necessary for the museum's collection to grow and evolve. It's kind of like cleaning out your closet to make room for new clothes or deciding to sell some old stuff at a yard sale. It's all about making choices about what to keep and what to let go of.

So, let's say a museum has a painting that's been hanging around for a long time and they want to replace it with something else. They might decide to "deaccession" that painting, which means they'll take it out of their collection and either sell it to another museum or a private collector, or maybe even just get rid of it. It's all about managing the museum's collection so that they have the most interesting and important stuff on display for people to see.

It's kind of like organizing your bookshelf and deciding which books you want to keep and which ones you're ready to part with. Sometimes you outgrow certain things or just need to make room for new stuff. That's basically what "deaccessioning" is all about.

I hope that makes sense! Let me know if you have any other questions.