Art theft, art vandalism, and guardianship in U.S. art institutions.

Abstract

wisely said, "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You're able to say to yourself, 'I've lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along.'" This quote aptly captures the essence of my doctoral studies journey. More important than absorbing the finer points of multivariate statistics, critically thinking about theoretical constructs, or even adopting a scholarly prose, I learned the importance of resilience. This skill supersedes any subject taught within a course curriculum or degree proffered by academic success. There are many people to acknowledge and thank who have been a part of this tumultuous path to the completion of my dissertation. First and foremost, I would like to thank John Begley and Peter Morrin for sticking by my side the past ten years and for their never-ending wisdom and comfort. I learned more about the art world and museology from them than I could from any book. I am also extremely grateful to my Chair, Dr. Ryan Schroeder, for taking on this unique project with enthusiasm, donating precious time reading my long-winded chapters/emails, and having the utmost patience for a high-strung doctoral student. Additionally, this dissertation would not be complete without the brilliance of Dr. David Roelfs. He jumped right in at the twelfth hour numerous times with academic passion, a smile, and kind words. The remaining member of my "dissertation team" is Dr. Paul DeMarco. This entire process never would have iv ever transpired if he had not taken a chance on a non-traditional student with offbeat project ideas. His flexibility allowed for many calamities to be either avoided or remedied. Outside of the immediate dissertation unit are a host of others who played a significant role in this journey. It began with Dr. Deborah Keeling, who I truly am grateful for all that she sacrificed and contributed to my success for many, many years. I also thank Dr. Kristin Swartz for helping me become conversant in all things "Cohen and Felson." Dr. Blythe Bowman Balestrieri, thank you for guiding me through the art crime world and keeping me on your team all these years. I also thank Dr. Bonnie Magness-Gardner for all of her knowledge and valuable information about the FBI's art crime team. Amy Elam-Krizan and John Enochs, you guys are my best buds from college who cheered me on from the side sidelines, offered advice and a shoulder to whine on, as well as a stiff drink when needed. Dr. Ida Dickie, I cannot thank you enough for everythingyour unconditional friendship, kindness, expertise, and willingness to join in on all my outrageous adventures and projects over the years. Jennifer Hancock, you are always there in a crisis and up for a concert. Dr. Maggie Stone, you have been there as a friend, advocate, and scholar extraordinaire; especially in the last few months when I needed your presence most. I am honored to be your friend. Lastly, I thank my parents and Ying Kit Chan for their support and love over the past ...

Art Vandalism and Guardianship in US Art Institutions

“…Conversely, 27.3% of the victimized museums/galleries inventoried their works daily while 35.4% of non-victimized museums did so. It should be noted that the differences in the frequency of inventorying works on view between the victimized and non-victimized museums/galleries was also statistically significant in the multivariate binary logistic regression model, where a higher frequency of inventorying was associated with lower odds of vandalism victimization (see Salomon 2018).…”

“…There were differences in the percentages of victimized and non-victimized museums/galleries that, respectively, used window alarms (56.0% vs. 39.5%), glazing on some pictures (68.0% vs. 47.7%), or ropes and stanchions (56.0% vs. 38.4%). The only difference shown to be statistically significant in the multivariate binary logistic regression model, however, was the difference in use of glazing for some pictures, which was associated with higher odds of vandalism victimization (see Salomon 2018).…”

“…Larger institutions possess more works that may be desirable targets of victimization and a larger space may be more difficult to monitor by place mangers. It should be noted, however, that only the difference in average volunteer hours between the victimized and non-victimized museums/galleries was statistically significant in the multivariate binary logistic regression model, where higher numbers of volunteer hours were associated with higher odds of vandalism victimization (see Salomon 2018).…”