Provenance and Cultural Property

The Cincinnati Art Museum is committed to learning about the histories of the objects it stewards. Through research and collaboration, our museum prioritizes the development of ethical and informed futures for these collections. This work is critical to the museum’s mission.

In 2024, the Cincinnati Art Museum established the Cultural Property Committee, an interdepartmental group that includes the museum’s Director and representatives from, among others, the Conservation, Curatorial, Library & Archives and Registration departments.

Goals of this committee include updating policies and guidelines for provenance research and for the stewardship of objects of historical and cultural significance; conducting an inventory of these objects; identifying additional financial and staff resources to dedicate to this work; seeking out and centering descendant and affiliated communities; and, in all applicable cases, facilitating the proper restitution or return of objects.

The committee will ensure compliance with the UNESCO convention of 1970 concerning the illicit movement of cultural property; regulations codified by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 and subsequent updates; the American Association of Museum’s 1999/2001 guidelines for documenting Nazi-era ownership of artworks; and the 2008 American Association of Museum Directors guidelines pertaining to archaeological material and ancient art.

Please contact us at [email protected] for further information about CAM collections.

For general questions about the collections, please contact us at [email protected].

Please check back as we continue to update this page with guidelines and resources.

Learn more

Nazi-era Provenance Research

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)