---
title: "Deaccession"
description: "The formal removal of an artwork from a collection when it has deteriorated beyond repair, no longer fits its site, or can no longer be justified on display."
glossary: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary"
source: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/deaccession"
---

# Deaccession

> The formal removal of an artwork from a collection when it has deteriorated beyond repair, no longer fits its site, or can no longer be justified on display.

Glossary: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary  
Source: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/deaccession

The cardinal rule: write the deaccession policy before you need it. A policy
adopted in calm weather protects everyone when a specific work becomes
contested: clear criteria, artist notification requirements, an ordered list
of options (return to the artist, relocation, sale, storage, and destruction
only as a last resort). A process invented mid-controversy convinces no one.

Recent public debates over monuments have pulled deaccession out of registrar
obscurity and into council chambers. Programs that weathered those debates
best were the ones that could point to an existing process and follow it
visibly.

Related terms: [Accession](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/accession), [Collection management](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/collection-management), [Conservation](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/conservation), [Relocation](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/relocation), [Decommissioning](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/decommissioning)

## Mentioned in

- [From Open Data to a Living Guide](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/from-open-data-to-a-living-guide)
- [How to Evaluate Public Art Mapping Software](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-evaluate-public-art-mapping-software)
- [What Happens When Public Art Goes Away](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/what-happens-when-public-art-goes-away)
- [Condition report form](https://www.civiccollection.com/toolkit/condition-report-form)
- [Public art inventory field checklist](https://www.civiccollection.com/toolkit/public-art-inventory-field-checklist)
- [RFP language for procuring a public art guide](https://www.civiccollection.com/toolkit/rfp-language-for-procuring-a-public-art-guide)