"Now, the Detroit Institute of Arts must raise as much as $350 million to fulfill its end of the bargain and sustain it after a local arts tax expires in 2022," the news outlet reported.
The DIA, which houses prominent masterpieces by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Matisse among others, was informed back in 2013 by city authorities that it would have to help ease Detroit's bankruptcy debt, even if it meant putting up its collection for sale at an auction.
Instead of selling its art collection, the DIA started a fundraising campaign to raise money from different philanthropic foundations. The museum may help the city resolve the bankruptcy issue by funding pensions with prominent masterpieces.
"Raising $350 million is a tall order after the museum already gathered $360 million in donations during the past 12 years for an endowment. Of the new money, $100 million will go toward the bankruptcy settlement," Graham Beal, DIA director since 1999, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
The city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in July 2013, having accumulated an estimated $18 billion in debt. Detroit, which became the largest city in US history to declare bankruptcy, is also dealing with increased unemployment and a shrinking population.
