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Mark Stevens & Annalyn Swan: de Kooning: An American Master
Join our Twitter book club this summer. See Pages above.
Sharon Waxman: Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World
Lindsay Pollock: The Girl With the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert And the Making of the Modern Art Market
LOVE this book! It reveals so much about the early American art market. Halpert was a true pioneer.
Interested in having a sponsor for your art opening or event? Listen to learn about specific steps to take when presenting sponsorship opportunities to people and businesses that want to be in front of your audience.
[5:30]
Related
Art Marketing Action newsletter (a written version of this podcast)
Best of the Art Marketing Action Podcasts (3 CD set)
Cultivate Collectors (online class begins July 8)
This is the weekly feature where I group things together for you and highlight the best of the Art Biz Blog, the Art Marketing Action newsletter, and my products.
Today, it's about donating your art.
As always, keep in mind that some of the links might be broken by now. After all, they've been buried in the vault for a while.
ART MARKETING ACTION NEWSLETTER
ART BIZ BLOG
Donation schmomation (when a donation goes awry)
Ramifications of donating art featured in New York Times article
How much art or time can you donate?
ARTIST INTERVIEW
In the INSIGHTS interview I did with him, renowned portrait artist Michael Shane Neal talks about how he donates his art and how he ends up making money from those donations.
Are there too many art organizations out there?
Are there too many art museums and art centers?
Are our messages being watered down because they're spread too thin?
Community is different from audience--and more valuable to you. Listen to find out why.
I've written a lot about donating your art.
It's always good to donate your talents to a cause you believe in--whether it's donating your art, your organizational skills, your time, or whatever.
When you donate your art, make sure you get credit! My assistant, Shari Cornish, donated a design to her Vermont NPR station to use on a mug. She got her name and credit on the mug and on the Web site. So many people forget to give credit. It's usually not malicious, but just an oversight due to being overworked and underpaid.
A first-of-its-kind study by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and the Colorado Council on the Arts (CCA) reveals that public high schools offering more arts education have higher academic achievement, regardless of student ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
New survey data associate arts education with higher scores on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) in reading, writing and science – and lower dropout rates. Colorado is one of only three states to conduct a similar comprehensive study of arts education in public schools. In all three states, schools that scored high on the survey’s arts index had lower dropout rates.
The findings also show that most of Colorado’s public schools – with elementary schools in the lead – choose to offer some formal arts education to a majority of students, regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic makeup of the student population: 93 percent of elementary schools (grades K-5); 86 percent of middle schools (grades 6-8); and 83 percent of high schools (grades 9-12).
Read the complete report.
Art matters! The arts help kids become more well-rounded adults and teach them things that no math or science class could possibly teach.
October 25 has been declared International Artist Day by a group of artists who thought wisely that artists needed their own special day. Not coincidentally, it's also Picasso's birthday. Is it on your calendar? How will you celebrate? Here are some suggestions they give you on their Web site.
1. Have the Mayor of your city proclaim this day, October 25th, as International Artist Day every year.
2. For a visual exposure have your local media film an interview and do an article about the Artist(s) in your area.
3. Have businesses sponsor an Artist by purchasing a painting for their lobby, or hosting a show.
4. Treat your favorite Artist to lunch or dinner.
5. With so much up and coming new talent out there, why not help sponsor an emerging artist, through a weekend workshop or fundraiser.
6. Advertise International Artist Day by downloading our logo and using it to print posters or invitations for events.
7. As a gallery owner, host an Open House with as many of your represented Artists in attendance.
8. As an individual art lover, throw a house party featuring your Artist friend(s) and their artwork, of course!
9. Host an “Art Auction” in a restaurant with a guest speaker to talk about art appreciation, art history (briefly) and the importance art plays in our society. Charge per plate. This money can be used to help sponsor new talent in the schools.
10. Send International Artist Day greeting/post cards to all your supporters to show your appreciation and thank them for honoring Artists and supporting the arts. (Alyson notes: I love this one! See my recent post on making your collectors feel special.)
11. If you have any type of website, add the International Artist Day link and feature a different artist of the month, every month with a short biography.
12. Most of us drive so why not have some magnetic decals or bumper stickers made to promote International Artist Day to display on your vehicle. This would help the awareness to develop. Please visit the gift store.
After the newsletter about donating art, I received this shocking email, which I'll share as anonymous because the author didn't respond to my questions nor give me permission to use his name. I've slightly edited it to insure the anonymity. It's shocking not because it's rare (I fear it isn't), but because of the egregious deception of the organization.
I'm a senior citizen, seasoned award winning painter who got bit in the but last year after I donated a large painting as a fund raiser for a charity. The person who manages this charity came to me last year and asked me to donate a large oil painting. . . . This painting was to be a feature piece that was to be auctioned off at a $250 a plate, black-tie fund raiser.
Two weeks after the banquet, I visited the person's office to find out what my painting brought in dollars for the cause. The person said they had a confession to make. The painting was withheld from the auction and given to the chairman of the charity because he loved the work!
I valued the painting at around $1,000. The bottom line is, I and my wife did not get a ticket to the auction, but my name, other to the chairman who got the painting, was not mentioned in any press release nor did I even get a thank you letter. How would you handle this one ?
My response as to how I would handle it is based on the facts that I don't know how long ago the auction took place or what the author of this email said when he discovered what had happened.
First, as the artist realizes, this is completely unacceptable. He didn't donate it to the chairman! He donated it to raise funds for a charitable organization. If they had changed their mind and wanted to donate to the chairman, they should have gone back to the artist and received permission.
My immediate response to the person who "confessed" would be that I will think about what has taken place and form a response to her. I would then go home and draft a letter saying that since you placed faith in the organization and they violated that trust, you would like to be remunerated. You expect, within 30 days, either (1) the return of the painting or (2) a check for $1000.
You really don't want to do this, but you would also have every right to contact the press or other board members if your request isn't honored. It's not nice to issue threats and they usually don't help your case, but it's something you could do in the future if they get nasty. A charitable organization is a public trust and they have a responsibility to their donors. Any breech of that responsibility puts the prospect of future donations in jeopardy.
In short: They really, really screwed up. They need to be held accountable and they need to make things right for the good of their organization.
This should also serve as a lesson to get everything in writing, regardless of how well you know them. Putting things in writing assures that all parties are on the same page. Don't ever "give" your art to anyone without this. You're in charge of your career. Don't give away your power.
You can't give to every good cause. Set your parameters.
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This podcast is an audio version of the Art Marketing Action newsletter.
Monday's Art Marketing Action newsletter is about donating your art.
As a preview, I want to encourage you not to forget your gallery affiliations when gifting any work to charity auctions, raffles, drawings, and the like. Some dealers are understandably anxious to see their artists' work going for less than market value. Keep the lines of communication open with your dealers. Run it by your local gallery (the gallery nearest the charity event) if there is any question. Or at least inform them of your decision.
