Cool or Not Cool: The Smithsonian Selling Your Art Without Permission?
J. Charles | Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 3:00PM 
Andrew Theodorakis for the New York Daily News
That's just what happened to Park Slope artist Margaret Bowland, whose oil painting was featured at a Smithsonian exhibition from March 2009-August 2010. The painting, titled "Kenyetta and Brianna," was given a People's Choice Award. At the end of the exhibit, the Smithsonian had difficulty contacting Bowland to let her know that she could retrieve her art. The New York Daily News explains:
"In the final weeks of the show, the Smithsonian sent two emails to Bowland about returning the painting, but the messages were sent to an old email address, according to the complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court."
When the museum couldn't get a hold of Bowland, they contacted the Klaudia Marr Gallery in New Mexico, where the Smithsonian initially discovered the painting. The gallery told the Smithsonian to ship the painting directly to David Naylor, an interior designer who paid $40,000 for the work. According to Bowland and her lawyer, the New Mexico gallery had no right to sell the painting, and the Smithsonian no right to ship it without her knowledge.
art, smithsonian 
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