A Passion for Possession: Visitors Buy African Art opened in 1997 with an unusual premise. Everyone who came could vote for how to spend $10,000 that had been raised by deaccessioning (selling) works from the museum's collection. Among the nine choices were an invitation for a collaborative art project with artist Fred Wilson, a Dogon Monkey Mask, apartheid prints by Rudzani Nemasetoni, a rickshaw driver's costume from South Africa and photographs by Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe. Over the course of a year, visitors to the interactive exhibition voted to purchase 400 Men of African Descent. The work was honored with comments from visitors such as these:

"It seems, at first, funny and trivial. I overheard a young girl say something about Barbie dolls. But when you look closely and note that each of these is unmistakably male and when you read the explanation, the power of it and the tragedy of it strike you very strongly. Thanks for asking our opinions."

"To remember, to learn from the past, to honor those who lost their lives, to keep us from doing it again."

"Drew me the most. The incessant variety is fascinating and disturbing all at once."

"You will not find this everywhere. It's pulling teeth."