To the editor:
While I no longer live in Pittsfield, I grew up there — and Pittsfield and the Berkshires will always be part of my DNA. My relatives in Pittsfield have all passed away but I still visit often to see friends and support the arts and cultural institutions of the Berkshires. As a child I visited the Berkshire Museum many times and have fond memories of trips there with school groups and with my mother.
While it is difficult to deaccession works of art I see this as the only way to keep the museum on a sound financial path. I understand the board has done its due diligence and looked at every possible alternative to deaccessioning. The members of the board are volunteers whose decisions result in no financial gain for themselves. Their two-year study which included assistance from two nationally recognized museum consultants was thorough, in depth and rigorous. I accept their conclusion that to keep the museum open there is a need to sell some of its art.
I also find the plan of executive director Van Shields and the board for the future exciting and invigorating and I look forward to a revitalized and vibrant Berkshire Museum that I will be proud to show my children, grandchildren and friends.
Al Jaffe,
Old Saybrook, Conn.