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14 J. Art Crime 39 (2015)
Making the Best of the Worst: How the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Turned Its Loss into Gain

handle is hein.journals/jartcrim14 and id is 44 raw text is: Making the Best of the Worst: How the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Turned Its Loss Into Gain Laura Evans Abstract T he 1990 theft of $300 million of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner has been marked as a catastrophic tragedy in the art world. Though the theft was an unfortunate incident, I argue that the Gardner has turned this loss into gains for the museum, on a number of levels. In asking the question, How can a museum recover from such a great loss? I will explore many areas of growth that the Gardner has experienced post-theft. Furthermore, I suggest that this renaissance may not have been a priority to the museum had the 1990 theft not occurred. In this paper, I will focus on what changed for the Gardner after the theft: a stronger security presence, a new building, better financials, greater public visibility, an initiation of a robust series of educational programs, and an anchoring in pop culture. Finally I will ask, Would these changes have occurred without the catalyst of the theft? I believe the Gardner has evolved in ways that would not have occurred with the same urgency and rapidity if the 1990 theft had not happened. Though I am not advocating for art theft in any way, this paper acknowledges that the Gardner has, indeed, made the best of a terrible situation and has used the theft as a catalyst towards institutional improvement. Keywords: Solvency; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Theft; Recovery; Catalyst; Institutional Improvement 39

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