Updated at 1:09 p.m.
Denver's city auditor said in a new report that it "lacks assurance" that officials with the Denver Art Museum are keeping correct track of all city-owned art.
The follow-up report comes nearly three years after an initial audit raised questions about the museum's accounting methods for its collection.
Denver Auditor Timothy O'Brien's office says only eight of the 22 recommendations it made to the art museum in January 2021 have been fully implemented. Initial concerns from the auditor included how the museum and city officials worked together, who owned what at the museum, other inventory issues and governance of the museum's board of trustees.
"The city cannot ensure it has identified and can fully track assets that are owned by the city but stored at the Denver Art Museum," the follow-up report says.
The new report comes in the wake of a series of scandals at museums nationwide, including at the Denver Art Museum, that called into question how some pieces in the collection were obtained, and if they were looted from other countries.
"Art ownership and sales are receiving extra scrutiny around the world, which is why Denver should know which art it owns and make sure that art is where it should be at the museum," O'Brien said in a release.
Auditor office officials say the museum did not give them full access to the museum's management system that keeps track of art at the museum when it made its initial assessment and that they continue to rely on museum officials to give them a full account of what pieces the museum holds.
A spokesperson for the museum said in an email that the museum "participated fully" in the process and gave the auditor's team complete access to all data on-site. They say the museum addressed every collection and inventory-related recommendation made by the auditor, and added that there is "no uncertainty" about which objects belong in the museum's collection and which belong to the City of Denver.
The spokesperson added that the museum's work implementing the other auditor recommendations is ongoing.
In addition to the accounting problems with the collection, the auditor says museum officials have so far declined to draft a new operating agreement with the city and have not yet taken action to meet diversity goals for its board of trustees.
But the updated report does give the museum some accolades for strengthening its inventory planning and practices, for requiring the board of trustees keep minutes at its meetings, and for adding a mayoral appointee to its governing board.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comments from the Denver Art Museum.
