DETROIT — Emergency Manager Kevin Orr has hired Christie’s Appraisals, a New York-based international auction house, to appraise the City-owned collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts. 

Orr said, in a statement on Monday, August 5, that the City’s plan has never been to sell art, but the City must know the current value of its assets.

Kevin Orr.

The EM will also put a price tag on the tunnel to Canada and other City-owned properties, like the Coleman A. Young International Airport, parking garages and parking meters.

“This valuation, as well as the valuation of other City assets, is an integral part of the restructuring process. It is a step the City must take to reach resolutions with its creditors and secure a viable, strong future for Detroit and its residents,” Orr said.

Orr is trying to work a compromise for the City’s $18 billion debt, and creditors feel that the City’s art is being overprotected, while they are being offered a mere 10 percent of what they are owed.

Reacting to Orr’s evaluation of the art, the DIA issued a statement on Facebook, stating “We continue to believe there is no reason to value the collection, as the attorney general has made clear that the art is held in charitable trust and cannot be sold as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. We applaud the EM’s focus on rebuilding the City, but would point out that he undercuts that core goal by jeopardizing Detroit’s most important cultural institution.”

Christie’s Appraisals says that it has a history of supporting museums throughout the country, adding that it is currently working for the interests of Detroit and its art community.