Once a little known yet always hugely influential family, the Sackler’s, have recently been thrust into the spotlight for their Purdue Pharma empire built on the pain-killing drug OxyContin. With an estimated family wealth of $13 Billion, they are easily among the 1% and power elite of today’s society.[1] As history dictates those with the most power strive to stay out of the spotlight, keeping their influence elusive to the public. Unfortunately, the recent string of lawsuits claiming that the family has profited off the opioid crisis has brought a new wave of undesired attention to their name.
However, before this recent wave of backlash, the family was noted for their philanthropic contributions to the arts. Those familiar with the museums and the art world will have first recognized their name from the Museums, wings, galleries, and installations that bear the Sackler name. An expert example of Conflict Perspective and the Power Elite, the wealth they make from the national Opioid Crisis helps fund major cultural institutions throughout the world and their place among the wealthiest and most influential members of society. This silent yet deadly position has afforded them, until recently, the unchecked power of fueling OxyContin drug addiction for personal gain. An international cultural powerhouse the Sacklers expertly positioned themselves as connoisseurs of art, distancing their name from the drug empire they were building their wealth off of.
The attention that the opioid crisis has brought to the Sackler family has also helped the public take note of their presence in the art world. Some of the most identifiable Sackler contributions are seen in the galleries and exhibitions of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Guggenheim in New York City, The Smithsonian, The British Museum, The London National Portrait Gallery the Louvre and many other organizations. Despite the destruction of the opioid crisis, the press around the family has also triggered a new set of legal protests and demonstrations against the institutions that accept Sackler money.
Last March, world renown American Artist Nan Goldin staged a demonstration in the Temple of Dendur Exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in protest of the Sackler Wing and the Met’s Sackler money. Goldin, a former Oxycontin addict and the creator of the activist group, Sackler P.A.I.N, has been fighting the art worlds acceptance of their philanthropic donations. Also staging “die-in” demonstrations at The Harvard Art Museums and The Smithsonian, she emphasized in an interview in September that “direct action is our only hope.”[2] Her protests have inspired an international movement against the art world that is creating waves throughout the community.
These days protests and demonstrations can feel like a lost cause, fighting against a government of Elite Power that has no interest in changing, however, the art world seems to be taking a different approach. Instead of alienating their public supporters and further tarnishing their names Museums are beginning to listen, a rare ray of hope amidst the tumultuous state of the world. Although not concrete, in January the Mets President and CEO said that “the [Sackler family] is a large extended group and their support of The Met began decades before the opioid crisis. The Met is currently engaging in a further review of our detailed gift acceptance policies, and we will have more to report in due course.”[3]
Other demonstrations have also happened across American and European institutions. The first museum to drop Sackler money was London’s National Portrait Gallery. On March 19 it officially dropped a $1.3 Million gift from the Sacklers.[4] One of the first legitimate institutional acts against the family proves the power of the public's voice and sends a message to the Power Elite that they are no longer untouchable. In addition, the National Portrait Gallery is currently in talks with Nan Goldin about a future retrospective exhibit. Following the National Portrait Gallery, a few other high profile museums in London have rejected Sackler gifts.[5] Recently, on March 23, the Guggenheim announced it will not be accepting a recent Sackler donation, an important move for The Met to take into consideration.[6]
The current movement against the Sackler family is important and impressive, but it can not be the beginning and end of keeping Museums and other cultural institutions in check. Money and support from corrupt weapons dealers, drug empires, colonizers, and thieves still line the pockets of these cultural powerhouses and while those in power may seem beyond reach, the strength of a unified public movement has already, albeit slowly, proven to be more powerful.
Sources
[1] "Sackler Family," Forbes, accessed March 20, 2019, https://www.forbes.com/profile/sackler/#2e466e2f5d63.
[2] Kate Brown, "'Direct Action Is Our Only Hope': Anti-Opioid Activist Nan Goldin on Why People Need to Go Offline to Fight for Their Beliefs," Artnet News, September 04, 2018, accessed March 20, 2019, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/nan-goldin-on-sacklers-and-opioids-1338254.
[3] Victoria Stapley-Brown, "The Met Is Re-evaluating Its Gift Acceptance Policy in Wake of Sackler Lawsuits," The Art Newspaper, January 21, 2019, accessed March 20, 2019, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/the-met-is-re-evaluating-its-gift-policy-in-wake-of-sackler-lawsuits.
[4] Kate Brown and Javier Pes, "In a Landmark Decision, London's National Portrait Gallery Drops a $1.3 Million Gift from the Sacklers," Artnet News, March 19, 2019, accessed March 20, 2019, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/sackler-trust-national-portrait-gallery-1492120.
[5] Philip Kennicott, "Two Major Museums Are Turning down Sackler Donations. Will Others Follow?" The Washington Post, March 22, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/two-major-museums-are-turning-down-sackler-donations-will-others-follow/2019/03/22/20aa6368-4cb9-11e9-9663-00ac73f49662_story.html?utm_term=.f9092ab8b8f6.
[6] Liam Stack, "Guggenheim Museum Says It Won't Accept Gifts From Sackler Family," The New York Times, March 23, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/arts/guggenheim-sackler-family-donations.html.
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