DETROIT —  On Tuesday, June 16, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette approved a deal to protect the Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) collection from being tapped to help pay the bankrupt city’s creditors.

Under the settlement, which is part of the so-called grand bargain in Detroit’s debt adjustment plan, the DIA’s assets will be transferred to a nonprofit corporation for the benefit of Detroit and state residents.

Schuette said the arrangement complies with an opinion he issued a year ago that concluded the DIA’s art collection is held in a charitable trust for the people of Michigan and that no part of the collection can be “sold, conveyed, or transferred to satisfy city debts or obligations.”

The attorney general said his approval was required under the settlement. The Detroit City Council has also approved the transfer of city assets at the DIA to the nonprofit corporation.

“As required by Michigan law, the DIA Settlement continues the museum’s charitable purpose and thereby preserves Michigan’s world-class art collection for current and future generations of Michigan citizens,” Schuette said in a letter to U.S. Judge Steven Rhodes, who is overseeing Detroit’s historic bankruptcy case.