Standard Policy for the Process of Acquiring Works into the Permanent Collection


Standard Policy for Loans of Works from the Permanent Collection


Standard Policy and Fee Schedule for Rights and Reproduction of Works from the Permanent Collection

---

The Art Gallery of Hamilton has in place guidelines and policies surrounding the acquisition of artwork into the permanent collection. In regard to works that are donated to the collection by private citizens and/or companies/corporations, the timeline of events is as follows:

OFFER
The donor approaches curatorial staff of the AGH with their proposed work. This is normally carried out in the form of a written offer of donation, complete with particulars for the piece, as well as a visual document.

CURATORIAL CONSIDERATION
The Curators, in consultation with one another, as well as the President and CEO, internally consider the merit of the work and its relevance to the institutional mandate, collection policy and to the existing permanent collection. Should the work be deemed an appropriate fit for the collection, the Curators decide to present it to the appropriate acquisition committee (Historical or Contemporary). If the work is not deemed a proper fit contextually, the Curator then contacts the donor and the work is respectfully declined.

ACQUISITION MEETING
As noted above, the Curator presents the proposed donation to the acquisition committee, with the work on site if feasible. The committee votes as to the acceptance of the work into the permanent collection.

COST
All costs associated with completing the donation, including appraisal fees, photography and transportation are to be borne by the donor. This will be communicated to each prospective donor at the onset by the Curator, and will be administrated by the Registrar and Accountant.

GIFTING
Upon receiving notification that their donation has been accepted into the collection, the donor has two options with which to proceed for the gifting process:


The course of action for a charitable tax receipt is as follows. As this receipt is issued in-house, it is the more expedient of the two options.

If the donor has owned the work for more than three years prior to the offer the process is as follows. The AGH obtains a fair market evaluation for the object from an accredited appraiser (if the value of the object is greater that $20,000.00, two appraisals must be sought). The Gallery provides the appraiser with the information needed to complete an evaluation, including a photograph, condition report, provenance and exhibition history of the work.

The donor then learns of the value assigned by the appraiser from the Curator or Registrar. Should the value arrived at be acceptable to all parties involved, the Registrar then issues deeds of gift to the donor in duplicate to sign, thereby transferring legal ownership of the work to the AGH. A tax receipt for the value of the appraisal, signed by the President and C.E.O., is then issued to the donor and the transaction is complete.

If the donor has owned the work for three years or less, the process has been amended as of December 5th, 2003, and is no longer the same as above. A gift that fits this criteria will be valued at either its cost (the donor must provide appropriate invoices) OR it's fair market value - whichever value is lower. The new provisions are in place to eliminate the possibility of a donor receiving a tax credit for an amount that exceeds his or her out-of-pocket cost.

(Should the donor decide that the assigned value is unacceptable, he/she reserves the right to request another appraisal to be carried out, but must also bear the cost of this new appraisal. Should the Curator feel strongly that the initial appraisal is indeed an accurate reflection of the current market, he/she will advise the donor to that effect. Should the donor remain dissatisfied, with either the new appraisal or the Curator's support of the initial appraisal, and wishes that the work be returned, this will be done at the donor's expense. The donor will also reimburse the AGH for all costs related to the appraisal process.)

The Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board certification (T871), is the second option available to donors. As this certification exempts the donor from paying any applicable capital gains tax, the process is slightly more lengthy as the Review Board requires detailed information for not only the work, but also the means by which it was acquired by the donor. The Review Board meets four times a year, putting each application through a rigorous examination.

The steps taken are essentially the same as outlined above to the acceptance of the appraisal(s). At this stage, the AGH begins preparation of the application for the next possible meeting of the Review Board. The donor decides whether they would like the work reviewed as a proposed donation or an irrevocable donation.

The application for a proposed donation includes the following:

• A written justification arguing for the work's importance and its being of outstanding significance and national importance
• Full provenance and exhibition history
• Certificate of authenticity
• Justified appraisal(s)
• Comprehensive condition report
• Photo-documentation

On this application, the work is considered at the next meeting of the Review Board for which the AGH can meet the deadline. Should the work be accepted at the value submitted, the Registrar then issues deeds of gift to the donor in duplicate to sign, thereby transferring legal ownership of the work to the AGH. The AGH in turn submits a copy of the signed deed of gift to the Board, who then issues a T871 certification form featuring the current date, to the donor. The AGH then forwards a tax receipt to the donor as well to complete the transaction.

Should the Board contest or reassign the value at which the work was submitted, they reserve the right to solicit another appraisal, which they will consider against those submitted by the AGH. This will take place at the following meeting of the Review Board. The AGH, on behalf of the donor, is permitted to request one redetermination on the part of the Board, and is encouraged to tender additional information in support of the initially submitted value. Should the request for redetermination be unsuccessful the donor will consult with the Curator as to the status of their donation. Should the donor choose to withdraw the offer of donation from the Gallery they will be invoiced for the cost of the appraisal(s) solicited, as well as any shipping costs incurred by the return of the work. Should the redetermination prove successful, the Registrar then issues deeds of gift to the donor in duplicate to sign, thereby transferring legal ownership of the work to the AGH. The AGH in turn submits a copy of the signed deed of gift to the Board, who then issues a T871 certification form featuring the current date, to the donor. The AGH then forwards a tax receipt to the donor as well to complete the transaction.

The application for an irrevocable donation includes the following:

• A written justification arguing for the work's importance and its being of outstanding significance and national importance
• Full provenance and exhibition history
• Certificate of authenticity
• Justified appraisal(s)
• Comprehensive condition report
• Photo-documentation
• A signed copy of the deed of gift bearing the date of donation

For this application as well, the work is considered at the next meeting of the Review Board for which the AGH can meet the deadline. Should the work be accepted at the value submitted, the Review Board then issues a T871 certification form featuring the date noted on the deed of gift, to the donor. The AGH then forwards a tax receipt to the donor as well to complete the transaction.

Should the Board reassign the value at which the work was submitted, they will issue the T871 certification to the donor in the amount that they have deemed appropriate featuring the date noted on the deed of gift. They will note that the donor can request a redetermination of the part of the Board in regard to the fair market value of the cultural property. Again, the Board will only grant one redetermination per object.

Should the redetermination prove successful, the Board then issues a T871 certification form featuring the date noted on the deed of gift, to the donor. The AGH then forwards a tax receipt to the donor as well to complete the transaction.

Should the request for redetermination be unsuccessful the donor will consult with the Curator as to the status of their donation. As the Board is aware that the donor has made an irrevocable offer to the institution, the donor cannot request the return of the work if dissatisfied, and must accept the Board's reassignment of fair market value. The Board then issues a T871 certification form featuring the date noted on the deed of gift, to the donor. The AGH then forwards a tax receipt to the donor as well to complete the transaction.

The major difference between a proposed donation and an irrevocable donation is important to note here, especially for year-end donations. Certification and issuance of a tax receipt for a proposed gift cannot be guaranteed as taking place in the same year as the work was accepted into the collection. While every effort is made on the part of the AGH to meet the closest CCPERB deadline, the Board usually holds the last meeting of the year in mid to late November and the deadline for this meeting is the beginning of October. Therefore, works accepted by the AGH acquisition committee into the collection after the beginning of October will not be considered by the Review Board until the following year. Any proposed gifts, as such, will be considered and consequently certified in the new fiscal year. For example, a proposed donation accepted by the acquisition committee in December of 2001, and considered by the Review Board at a meeting in March of 2002, will be certified and processed as a donation for the tax year 2002.

On the other hand, an irrevocable donation will always be considered and certified by the date noted on the signed and submitted deed of gift. Therefore, a Review Board meeting taking place in a new year will not alter the fiscal year at which the donation is considered; these donations will be considered as the year in which they were accepted into the collection.

Notes:

1. For detailed information and advice on capital gains or other tax related issues, please consult a tax accountant directly.
2. The donation procedure can be a lengthy process and can take up to a year from the proposal to the issuance of a tax receipt. Therefore, it is advisable to consider any donations as early in the year as possible.
3. The donor is kept up to date at every stage of the gifting process by the Registrar.

Please contact our Registrar's Office, at 905-527-6610 ext. 249 for more information.

BACK TO TOP

Art Gallery of Hamilton
Standard Policy for Loans of Works from the Permanent Collection

The Art Gallery of Hamilton has over 8400 works in its permanent collection, most of which are available to sister institutions for loan for exhibition.

One of the main responsibilities of the AGH is to hold its collection of art in trust for the public and make the works widely accessible so that they may enrich the cultural lives of the people of not only Hamilton, but also Ontario and Canada at large. This sharing of Hamilton's treasures also serves to heighten the profile of the AGH and advertise not only its esteemed collection, but its mandate as well.

Process
Interested institutions are expected to write a formal request for loan directly to the attention of the President and CEO describing the reason for their request (exhibition outline, curatorial statement) and include the dates of the exhibition, the date they would require the work to be on their premises as well as whether or not the work will be part of a touring exhibition. This should be received no less than 6 months in advance of the exhibition. The request is then passed to the relevant Curator for consideration who makes a recommendation and passes this on to the Registrar who collects information as to the condition of the work and its suitability for travel, as well as its heretofore exhibition history. Should all parties deem the work suitable for loan, the request is approved. Should it be deemed unsuitable, a letter from the President and CEO will inform the requesting institution.

The AGH will issue loan agreement forms for all loan transactions from the permanent collection to ensure that all set terms and conditions are met and that all loans are handled consistently. However, the AGH will accept loan forms from other institutions should their forms meet our standards. Once the forms have been completed in full and signed by both institutions, the loan is considered to be formalized.

Loan Fees
In addition to covering the cost of crating/packing, shipping and insurance, the borrowing institution will be charged a standard loan fee that is used primarily to offset some of the administrative and preparatory costs:

   $200.00 for first object
   $50.00 for each additional object

A higher fee may be assigned should the request include exceedingly involved technical/preparatory needs or require administrative needs considered to be in excess of what is considered normal.

It is important to note that higher fees will be charged to significant works such as those comprising the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Collection, as well as James Tissot's Croquet, Alex Colville's Horse and Train, William Blair Bruce's The Phantom of the Snow, Horatio Walker's Ave Maria, Michael Snow's installation Redifice, Irene Whittome's Gymnasium, as well as others as identified by the Curator and President and C.E.O. as such to be applicable. The fee will be determined as related to the value and importance of the work of art with the base standard fees as noted below. A change to these fees can be implemented at the discretion of the Chief Curator and President and C.E.O.

   $300.00 for first object
   $65.00 for each additional object

In the case of international loans, the borrowing institution is also required to cover all costs associated with an AGH courier accompanying the work and overseeing its unpacking/packing, including transport, accommodation and per diem.

Please contact our Registrar's Office, at 905-527-6610 ext. 249 for more information.

BACK TO TOP

Art Gallery of Hamilton
Standard Policy and Fee Schedule for Rights and Reproduction of Works from the Permanent Collection

The Art Gallery of Hamilton has over 8400 works in its permanent collection, many of which are available to those interested in the form of slides, prints, colour transparencies and in a limited form, digital images. The Registrar handles all personal, non-profit and commercial requests for images of works from the permanent collection as well as the attendant reproduction and copyrights.

Most requests are made by e-mail. Please submit the details of each project/publication are submitted in written form (e-mail, fax, or letter) and in addition to a description, include print run; the size of the reproduced image; whether or not it will appear in black and white or colour; and whether or not the book will be sold for profit or provided free of charge.

Once the photographic material is available (either in stock, new photography or special order) the appropriate cost will be charged and the materials will be sent to the customer along with the relevant Application for Permission to Reproduce Forms. The applicant must adhere to all guidelines and mandatory credit set out in the permission forms.

The Registrar will advise the applicant whether or not their reproduction request requires copyright clearance, and will direct them to the artist or copyright holder as it applies. It is then the responsibility of the applicant to obtain copyright clearance and pay any related fees. The AGH cannot authorize a reproduction request bound by copyright until copyright permission has been granted.

Once the transaction has been completed, the AGH requires that a copy of all publications (books, newsletters, magazine articles, etc.) be sent to the attention of the Registrar for the AGH Library files.

Please note the following:

• Only photographic materials provided by the AGH may be used for reproduction
• The AGH reserves the right to deny permission to reproduce an image for its collection to any applicant whose product is not deemed acceptable
• All granted requests are for one time permission only

Please contact our Registrar's Office, at 905-527-6610 ext. 249 for more information.

BACK TO TOP