ARCA (Association
for Research into Crimes against Art) is the first think tank/consultancy
group on contemporary issues in art crime. This non-profit
organization will study issues in art crime, and work as consultants
on art protection and recovery cases brought to them by international
police, governments, museums, places of worship, and other public
institutions.
Based in New Haven, CT, as well as Rome, ARCA will employ full-time
agents from a variety of backgrounds, from policing to art history
to criminology and more. ARCA has begun many of its projects
already, but is not scheduled to begin official operations until
2009. Their
goal is to use research and analysis techniques to examine the
phenomenon of art crime through history and across national borders,
with an eye towards informing contemporary art crime prevention
and solution. Such a study has never been undertaken.
Studies
Studies
Many studies are currently active and will be published
by ARCA. These
include: “Museum Guard Efficacy and
Management,” “Handbook
on Art Conservation and Handling for Police, Fire and Armed
Forces,” “Essays
and an Accompanying Conference on Map and Manuscript Protection,” and “Suspect
Profiling Applied by Museum Guards.”
Art Crime Archive
ARCA is compiling and charting empirical data on every reported art crime over
the last five years, as well as a major survey of art crimes dating back to
1876. The absence of this data set has been the primary impediment to
the academic study of art crime. This data will be made available to
the academic, police, and museum communities for analysis, to encourage the study
of art crime. Individual police departments have kept art crime archives
from their own cases and within their own country. Private detective
agencies have kept archives on cases brought before them. Neither
of these existing archive categories are generally available for research or
use outside of the parent organizations. The goal of this new archive
project is to provide an international data set for academic use, and one which
extends as far back in time as research permits. It will be available
as a free of charge reference for international academics, police, and art
professionals.
Art Crime and Terrorism
ARCA will accumulate a dossier containing empirical evidence, accounts, and statistics
which illustrate how art crime funds international terrorism. This is
a known fact, but the evidence to support it has yet to be accumulated. This
dossier will contain a study to determine how best to take action, and will
be presented to international governments and counter-terrorism organizations.
Art and Vandalism
ARCA will conduct a study of which artworks have been the objects of successful
and attempted vandalism. Studies suggest that art attacked by vandals
tends to fall into a specific, predictable type. This information will
maximize the efficiency of art protection.
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Consultancy
Consulting
Beginning in 2009, to the extent that ARCA is able,
ARCA will be available as a free-of-charge consulting service
to police, churches, and public collections. For
art crime situations for which research and academic analysis
may be useful, ARCA’s consultants will be available to
provide counsel and to travel to advise on art protection and
recovery.
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Publications
Essays on Art Crime
ARCA is editing a collection of formal academic essays
on the history and study of art crime, with contributions by
international scholars, police, and museum professionals, to
be published by the same prominent academic press, in conjunction
with the History of Art Crime. We hope to attract as many scholars as possible
to study this under-populated field. All profits from this
book will support ARCA.
Journals
ARCA plans to establish two journals. The Journal
of Art Crime Studies, the first peer-reviewed academic journal on the subject.
The first issue is scheduled to be released six months after the publication
of ARCA’s
Essays in Art Crime, in 2009. ARCA’s second journal, Lost
Art, will be a peer-reviewed but less formal interdisciplinary publication
on all aspects of art crime, as well as on archaeology, anthropology, art history,
and history, with a focus on cultural heritage that has been lost or destroyed,
and that which has been rediscovered.
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Fund-Raising
Fund-Raising
ARCA seeks funding to support its non-profit activities. ARCA
will never charge for its services, and relies on charitable
donations for funding. Some
of ARCA’s projects have begun, and can continue, without
further funding. The
rest of ARCA’s proposed projects, as well as its free-of-charge
research and consulting to international police, churches, and
museums, require funding. ARCA
represents a high-profile project that has already received media
attention. Articles
regarding ARCA have been featured in such international publications
as The New
York Times Magazine and Time (US), Mladina (Slovenia), Ventiquattro (Italy), Fine
Arts Registry and The Scotsman (UK), 24
Hours Toronto (Canada), Vogue and El
Pais (Spain), The Bund Pictorial (China), NRC
Next (Netherlands),
on National Public Radio, BBC Radio Four and ITV, MSNBC, and
CNBC television, among many others. The popular and
media appeal of art crime ensures that ARCA will maintain
high visibility. Support of ARCA provides a prestigious
opportunity for funding bodies and individuals to announce its
strong stance against art crime. ARCA is a registered
non-profit corporation in the state of Connecticut,
and its
tax-exemption request has been submitted. If approved
by the IRS, donations to ARCA will be tax-exempt retroactive
to 17 August 2007. Registrations
will follow in the UK and in Italy. For more information
please see the support page
of this web site.
Art for ARCA
Shop to fight art crime! Artists in support of
ARCA will offer works of original art for sale, a portion of the
proceeds going directly to ARCA. Please check our web site
and click on SHOP TO FIGHT ART CRIME when this project begins.
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Education
Masters program
ARCA is establishing an international Masters program, which
will be the first academic program in the new field of Art
Crime Studies. The program is
scheduled to begin in 2009, based in Amelia, Italy. It will be staffed
by twelve visiting lecturers from academic, policing, conservation, and security
backgrounds. For more information please see the EDUCATION
page of this web site.
Podcasts & Podcast Talks
Lecture series on art history, art crime, as well as audio-guided
museum tours will be available for download as podcasts. Some
of these lectures are free, and some may be downloaded for a small
donation. When this becomes available, please click on SHOP
TO FIGHT ART CRIME.
Art Crime Library
ARCA will establish the world’s first art crime
library, containing relevant international texts, including selected
texts in parallel fields, such as Criminology, Art History, Psychology,
and Art Conservation. This library will be available
to any professionals, academics, or students with a suitable letter
of reference.
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Awards
Awards
ARCA is pleased to honor scholars, police, and professionals
who have made significant contributions to art crime prevention
and the field of art crime studies. Beginning in 2009,
ARCA will present the following annual awards: 1) Best Book published
in the last year on a subject within, or related, to art crime,
2) Best Article published on the subject of art crime, 3) Professional
Recognition Award, to an individual who has distinguished him
or herself in their work against art crime, and 4) Lifetime Achievement
Award, to an individual who has distinguished him or herself
in their work against art crime over an entire career.
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Public Relations
Information and Facts
ARCA, its director, and its trustees have already received
considerable press. ARCA will become the first port
of call for those with questions about art crime, both about specific
cases and in general, acting as a figurehead organization to educate
and speak out against art crime. For more information,
please see the PRESS page of this web site.
Lectures on Art Crime.
ARCA representatives and its director are available to speak at both private
and public events. Speakers charge only for expenses, but request that
a donation be made to ARCA. Further, lecture series on art history,
art crime, as well as audio-guided museum tours will be available for download
as podcasts. Some of these lectures are free, and some may be downloaded
for a small donation. When this becomes available, please click on SHOP
TO FIGHT ART CRIME.
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Conferences
Conferences
After the success of the June 2006 conference in Cambridge,
England which led to the foundation of ARCA, ARCA will organize
an annual conference on art crime, as well as conferences on
specific sub-categories of art crime, such as map and manuscript
theft and museum security management. ARCA is currently
organizing an international conference on Map and Manuscript
Protection.
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