Big Art Big Theft; The Lawrence B. Salander Indictment

Big Art Big Theft;

The Lawrence B. Salander Indictment

Lawrence B. Salander of O’Reilly Galleries LLC was arrested on a 100 count indictment. Below, is a news release from the New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau about the case?

The indictment outlines how Salander built one of the most powerful art empires on fraud and deceit while he lived life as large as any Wall Street mogul did. Salander’s built an empire built based on illusion and manipulation of those who trusted him. He has pled not guilty to all charges. I predict that if Salander goes to trial that it will be the first time the secret details of how the Big Art Market functions will come to light and we will all learn the truth behind closed doors.

Link to NYC District Attorney Website

http://manhattanda.org/whatsnew/press/2009-03-26.shtml

DISTRICT ATTORNEY – NEW YORK COUNTY

NEWS RELEASE
March 26, 2009

Contact: Alicia Maxey Greene
212-335-9400

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the arrest and 100-count indictment of former art gallery owner LAWRENCE B. SALANDER and the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES, LLC for stealing $88 million from investors, owners, and a bank.

The defendants, SALANDER, 59, and the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES, have been indicted on multiple charges of grand larceny, securities fraud, scheme to defraud, forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, and perjury against SALANDER. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between July 1994 and November 2007.

The investigation leading to today’s indictment revealed that SALANDER, the manager and co-owner of the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES, defrauded 26 victims resulting in the theft of millions of dollars. SALANDER stole from his victims in two primary ways: he sold artwork not owned by him and kept the money; and lured investment money in fraudulent investment opportunities.

Investors in this case are individuals or entities that paid cash in exchange for an ownership interest in a work of art. Investment deals were presented in two ways, as a pre-sale or speculative investment. In pre-sales, SALANDER represented to an investor that a work of art had already been sold to a buyer who needed time to pay. SALANDER told the investor that he could purchase a percentage of the work based on SALANDER’s actual cost and then share a corresponding percentage of the sales price when it was paid. For example: SALANDER would claim that he purchased a work of art for $500,000 and had a buyer who agreed to pay $1 million in the future. SALANDER offered the investor a 50 percent interest in the art work for $250,000 with the assurance that upon receipt of the purchase price the investor would receive his initial investment plus an additional $250,000 as profit. In a speculative investment, SALANDER offered an investor the opportunity to purchase a work of art with him at cost, and thereafter SALANDER would sell the artwork at a greatly increased value and they would split the profit.

The fraud in each investment opportunity occurred when SALANDER did not own the work of art he offered for investment in whole or in part, or he misrepresented the actual terms of the investment. The misrepresented terms included: inflation of the purported cost (cost fraud), the sale of greater than 100 percent interest in a single work (oversale), the fabrication of the existence of the pre-sale (ghost investment), failure to pay the return when the money came in on the purported investment, or the misrepresentation of the amount payable to the investor (fraudulent retention).

For example: Renaissance Art Investors, LLC (RAI) was one of the gallery’s largest investors. RAI paid SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES $42 million at closing for approximately 328 Renaissance works of art.  As part of the deal, RAI, which was put together by the Schupak Group, a merchant bank owned by Donald Schupak and his son Andrew Schupak, simultaneously consigned the works back to SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES to market and sell. The $42 million was paid based upon SALANDER’s representations of the deal. However, SALANDER misrepresented almost every aspect of this investment including the cost and source of the works sold. For example, SALANDER claimed to have purchased the majority of Renaissance artworks from private dealers and estates mostly throughout Europe, yet the investigation revealed that he actually purchased a large number of works of art from public auction houses throughout Europe and the United States. SALANDER also intentionally withheld from RAI the reporting of millions of dollars in sales of RAI artworks after the closing of the deal and failed to turn over the proceeds of the sale. To support his misrepresentations, SALANDER provided RAI with forged invoices, fraudulent cash disbursement entries, falsified internal documents reflecting source and cost data, and falsified monthly inventories.

Owners of art as used in this case are individuals or estates that own works of art and consign them to the gallery for sale, exhibition, or appraisal. Upon the sale of artworks at agreed upon prices, the owners were to receive the balance of the sale price minus the commission owed the gallery. The majority of the estates are the heirs of prominent 20th Century American artists, including the estates of Stuart Davis, Ralston Crawford, Elie Nadelman, Louis Kahn, Giorgio Cavallon, George McNeil, Suzy Frelinghuysen and George Morris. The thefts from this category of victims occurred pursuant to unauthorized transactions including: sales below owners’ authorized prices, sales of artwork not delivered for sale at the time of the transactions, the use of the artworks as investment vehicles for third parties, or the use of the artworks to satisfy debts owed to third parties. These transactions were completed without consent from, notice to, or payment to the owners.

For example: in the case of the Estate of Stuart Davis, SALANDER and the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES sold over 50 Stuart Davis works of art consigned by the estate. The evidence showed that a majority of those works were sold without authorization at significantly reduced prices and without notice and payment to the Davis estate, a theft totaling over $6.7 million.  Altogether, the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES failed to produce or pay for 96 Davis works of art consigned to the gallery by the estate after repeated demands for the return of all works.

The bank in this case is the Bank of America from which SALANDER applied for a personal loan for himself and his wife, Julie.  In support of his loan application, SALANDER offered certain artwork as security and provided documents to establish that his wife owned that artwork.  In fact, several pieces were never owned by LAWRENCE SALANDER nor Julie Salander, but were owned by other individuals, including John McEnroe and the Estate of Dr. Alexander Pearlman. After previous offerings of collateral were rejected, these false filings enabled SALANDER to obtain a $2 million loan.

The investigation further revealed that SALANDER used the stolen funds for two primary purposes: to finance his self-imposed mission to corner the market in Renaissance Art, and to support his extravagant lifestyle, which included travel by private jet within the United States and to Europe, a lavish party for his wife at the Frick Collection, and the purchase and maintenance of his Manhattan townhouse and 66-acre estate in Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York.

He co-founded SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES in 1976. In 2005, the gallery moved from its original location on 79th Street to a five-story building located at 22 East 71st Street. He continued to control the daily business practices of the gallery until it closed in November 2007, pursuant to the filing of an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

The indictment charges SALANDER with 14 counts and the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES with 13 counts of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B Felony, which is punishable by up to 8⅓ to 25 years in prison; each defendant with 10  counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, which is punishable by up to 5 to 15 years in prison; 3 counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, 5 counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, and 5 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, all class D felonies, which are punishable by up to 2⅓ to 7 years in prison; 6 counts of Securities Fraud under the Martin Act (General Business Law §352-c(6)), 1 count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and 55 counts against SALANDER and 53 counts against the SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, all class E felonies, which are punishable by up to 1⅓ to 4 years in prison. SALANDER was also charged with 1 count of Perjury in the First Degree, a class D felony, which is punishable by up to 2⅓ to 7 years in prison.

Mr. Morgenthau thanked Detective Mark Fishstein of the New York City Police Department Major Case Squad for his assistance in the investigation.

Deputy Bureau Chief Micki Shulman and Assistant District Attorney Tanya Apparicio of the Frauds Bureau presented the case to the grand jury under the supervision of Frauds Bureau Chief Michael Kitsis and Deputy Bureau Chief Jeannette Molina and Chief of the Investigations Division Patrick Dugan.  Investigators Jeremy Rosenberg,  Jack Patterson, Siobhan Berry and Reginald Barometre assisted in the investigation under the supervision of Chief Investigator Joseph Pennisi and Deputy Chief Terence Mulderrig.  Others involved in the investigation included Investigative Analyst Yiyang Wu, and Trial Preparation Assistants David Lamb and Daniel Biller of the Frauds Bureau, and Financial Investigator Jay Liang supervised by Frank Puma, Chief of the Financial Crimes Bureau. IT Analyst Selena Ley and her supervisor, IT Deputy Director Steven Moran, also assisted.

Defendant Information:

LAWRENCE SALANDER, 5/29/49
Deep Hollow Road
Millbrook, New York

SALANDER-O’REILLY GALLERIES, LLC
22 East 71st Street
New York, New York

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Culture Economey, Investing, Journalism, Media, News, On Art, Uncategorized , Art Collecting, Art Market News, Art Theft, Investing in Art, Lawrence B. Salander

Investing in Big Art big gains or big losses another Secret Revealed

Investing in Big Art big gains or big losses another Secret Revealed

Tonight when I opened my Google News, there it was, another dirty secret made headlines. This time New York Art Dealer Lawrence B Salander indicted on the charge, he stole 88 million dollars from Art Investors, Collectors and Artists that consigned work with his upscale New York Gallery.

Art Dealer Is Charged With Stealing 88 Million

By James Barron New York Times, March 26, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/nyregion/27indict.html?ref=nyregion

Seems Mr. Salander sold the same painting to more than one buyer and that he used artwork that he did not own as collateral to barrow money. He also defrauded Artists who consigned work with his gallery. The article by James Barron is a more complete picture and I am sure that as this case goes to court more information will come to light. In fact, the real figure may be closer to 100 million according to Barron’s sources.

It just makes me sick when these kinds of things happen to artists and art collectors who are our patrons. We as artists go to galleries for representation because we need help marketing and selling our work. We need to make a living and we want collectors to collect our work. Then to be Ripped Off or to have our patrons Ripped Off is just plan Bad Business for all of us. I am not suggesting that Mr. Salander is representative of the art market as a whole but he does represent the bad side of a market fraught with risk.

As I have said many times before “Do Your Homework” before you buy, invest or consign your artwork to anybody. But how do you guard against someone like Salander. He is a Dealer who is established and appears to be respectable and has been around for a long time. I guess you just have to dig harder and use your gut intuition as your guide. If a deal is too sweet, beware. It is a deal probably too good to be true.

Barron’s NYT article says that someone with the investigation attempted to contact Robert De Niro Sr. about his paintings and his connection with Salander but that he didn’t return the phone call. Mr. De Niro Sr. Died in 1993. He is the father of actor Robert De Niro.

I was confused when I read about De Niro. I had exhibited several of his paintings in 2000 as part of an Abstract Expressionist Exhibit. I knew he had passed away. De Niro Sr. was part of the now famous group of painters the Abstract Expressionists.

Maybe they were referring to his son who is trying to recover 12 of his Dads paintings.

As it turns out Salander is accused of stealing 12 of De Niro Sr. paintings that had been consigned to him. Read the Article

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11202007/news/regionalnews/deniro_demands_pop_art_239232.htm

About Robert De Niro Sr. Abstract Expressionist 1922-1993

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-06-20-deniro_x.htm

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/de_niro_sr_robert.html

About Lawrence B. Salander

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/lawrence_b_salander/index.html?inline=nyt-per

Bloomberg News

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a.95n8ZwIPv8&refer=muse

Filed under: Art, Art News, Investing, Media, News, On Art , Abstract Expressionism, Art Theft, Investing in Art, Lawrence B. Salander, Robert De Niro Sr.

Americas Cultural Treasures on Sale

Americas Cultural Treasures on Sale

• A Bill in the New York Legislature Would Regulate the Sale of Museum Art Collections. If the Bill passes, it would make it illegal for a museum to sell parts of their collections to cover operating costs.

New York Times-related article

Bill seeks to Regulate Museums Art Sales

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/arts/design/18rege.html

Link to a copy of the Proposed Museum Bill

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/arts/03182009-bill.pdf

• The Question

Can or Should a Museum be allowed to sell parts of its art collection to cover operating expenses?

This is not a new question today just because many museums find themselves facing financial deficits in today’s economic crisis. It is a long-standing question has been unanswered by the law. Most Museums operate under a voluntary code of ethics that governs their decisions based on the principles or standards set by the industry. But the code of ethics has few teeth except shunning by other intuitions and professionals in the field and the code does little to stop un-sound or un-ethical practices.

Quoted from NYT article by Robin Pogrebin

“The two notions of deaccessioning and debt have to be de-coupled,” said Anne W. Ackerson, the director of the Museum Association of New York. “It seems that when some institutions get into financial trouble, they look to their collections as a way to get out.”

“Deaccessioning to pay the bills is strongly condemned in the museum world. The Association of Art Museum Directors, a national group, strictly prohibits the sale of artworks to cover anything but the acquisition of art. The group imposed sanctions on the National Academy for its sale, advising other institutions not to collaborate with or make loans to the academy”.

Link to the Museum ICOM Code of Ethics 2006 Document

http://icom.museum/ethics.html#intro

• An example of the problem is the case of Brandeis University. In January, they announced that they would close the Rose Art Museum and sell the collection to balance their budget.

The management of Museum collections is a difficult task fraught with many obstacles and often occurs behind closed doors out of the publics view. These often-secret deals are the very issue of the proposed law. When a decision such as the sale of the Rose Museum collection becomes public a lot of attention is focused on what is happening and why. Donor’s like the Rose Family get upset and as word spreads other donors out there in the world start to ask important questions about their donations to not only the museum in question but to museums they support.

Rose Art Museum To Be Closed

http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2009/01/27/News/Rose-Art.Museum.To.Be.Closed-3599143.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab

Rose Family Condemns University

http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2009/03/17/News/Rose-Family.Condemns.University-3673802.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab

• Every museum regardless of size or type has the problem of collection management.

Every collection has as in the case of Art Museums, Artworks that do not severe the scope of their respective collection and exhibition programs. Often artworks come into collections as donations past and present that have no real importance to a museums focus. These artworks are often just stored if they represent a direction, the museum may develop in the future. Sometimes the artwork fits the museums mission but is in a condition that prevents it from being exhibited until the artwork can be stabilized through preservation or restoration. Other times the artwork is simply not of value to the collection because it just doesn’t fit current or future plans of the museum. In that case rather than just store the artwork museums opt to deaccession or sell the artwork to another museum that has a collection the artwork would be a value too. Or they sell it to a collector if there is no other buyer.

Sometimes artworks are traded if a trade meets the needs of both parties. Some museums will loan artworks to other museums that need the artwork to exhibit with their collection in exchange for restoration or preservation when they cannot afford the cost themselves.

When work is deaccessioned, sold the money is ethically spent to either buy new artwork that meets the collection needs of the museum or used to pay for the cost of preservation of existing important artworks in their collections.

A museum that has a good collections management policy will create deeds of trust that governs the accessioning and deaccessioning of artworks. These documents are legal and binding and require that Museums make good and solid judgments when choosing artworks for their collections. But in the case of many older institutions and also new ones these agreements were not or are not part of their policy and artworks were accessioned into collections for a plethora of reasons. Often the reason was political to keep a major donor happy. Fifty years later, when the donor is long gone the museum still has the artwork and has little or no use for it today. As the organization, the museum matures and develops a sound; collection management policy, they still have the issue these types of artworks, these gifts are still in their collections. The deaccessioning of these treasures must be, dealt with in an ethical manner to preserve the purpose and function of museums as a whole. This is where the law can help museum professionals manage their collections and their Boards of Directors or at least their decisions.

• The dynamics of a Board change continuously and I think is the most difficult part of managing a museum or for that matter any corporation private or non-profit.

Attracting and retaining good Board members is an art and requires skill, hard work and above all Strong Policies. Boards can act in ways that are disastrous and harmful to the organization with out proper regulation, rules or by-laws that govern their behavior legally. Perhaps we can create a new term “The AIG Factor”! The rules that govern museums and other organizations established in their corporate structure vary widely.

• In the case of the Rose, the Director was informed of the decision to close the museum and sell the collection after the decision was made.

The Director had no say or input into the decision making process. In some organizations, this would not be the case, but even under the best of circumstances, the Board of Directors may in fact have the last word. They can just fire the Director who opposes their decisions.

Today many organizations are challenged by the current economic crisis. It is important to remember that there is always going to be good economic times and challenges in the future. Museum’s are here for the long haul and museum professionals have to protect the integrity of their institutions for the greater public good. Too, allow boards simply to sell off the collection assets when the going gets tough is not realistic long-term management.

Like in the case of the Rose, once the museum is gone it will be gone for good, as will be the treasure in your local art museum if it is sold.

In this instance, the Law if created would only govern New York State. I think it is time for a national uniform set of laws to govern the public trust. I have certainly understated the complexity of the problem and an issue here, what I have attempted to do is simplify a very complex and real problem that is widespread and concerns every art museum in the nation.

• What Happening in your Art Museum?

Do the Arts need a National Bailout?

http://davideubank.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/do-the-arts-need-a-national-bailout/

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Culture Economey, News, On Art, Politics, Uncategorized , Art Collecting, Art Collections, Art Law, Museum Code of Ethics, Museum Managment, New York Museum Law, Rose Art Museum

Is this the Beginning of Another Cold War?

Wen Jiabao

The New cold War is Not with Russia and Not an Arms Race. This time the opponent or opponents will be the nations that reach long-term sustainability first. The opponent will be the nations that address their countries Energy, Education, Infrastructure and Healthcare.

 

 

 

This morning as I watched the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao speak at a Chinese National Press Conference aired on CSPAN I realized that the Cold War of the future is going to be about the very issues President Obama is trying to set as a national policy and the direction for the future. Premier Jiabao addressed what China needs to do to maintain its economic sustainability and how China plans to do it. He identified Healthcare Reform, Infrastructure, Education, Energy and Financial Responsibility with Appropriate Regulation, Oversight and above all Transparency. Premier Jiabao made it clear at least to me that the need to address all of these issues now and in the long term is the trump card for the rest of the century. If China or any other international power is going to be able to sustain their global presence in the future, they have to fix these problems to be competitive. I am sure Premier Jiabao is looking at the ambitious Obama plan and sees his country’s adversary in the race for a sustainable economic future. He who creates a sustainable system wins and all others will be out of the race if they fall too far behind.

 

Being competitive in the Global Market Place not only requires intuitive insight and smart business management it requires a vision of the playing field projected far out into the future. It seems to me that this is a difficult abstract idea for many of our political leaders. (I will use this to get an Art Dig in) Maybe those politicians should have had more exposure to the Arts. The Arts help teach Abstract Concepts.

 

At issue, here in America is the idea that we do not need to look forward into the future and address issues that are going to maintain a sustainable future as President Obama is suggesting. But that we need to only address the current crisis as the Presidents detractors suggest.

 

The question I am asking is this, if we do not address our long term sustainability now, if we wait to begin the reforms in Healthcare, Education, Energy and Infrastructure will we fall to far behind those who understand the competitive importance of such ideas.

 

If America fails to take on the tough challenge to create real sustainable competitiveness we will fast become the New Third World. The future is like a Freight Train rolling down a 6% grade and nothing is going to stop it from arriving at the bottom of the hill.

 

An Effective National Healthcare Program would give American business not a competitive edge but a level playing field. We are the only major industrial power on the planet that has failed to address National Healthcare. We are the only MIP that does not have National Healthcare. Just look at the legacy benefit structure of GM compared to Honda or Toyota. Don’t you want a healthcare system that will allow you access without the fear of bankruptcy. 

 

Energy, do I really have to say anything here. Our over use, inefficiency and dependence on foreign sources is a disaster. America failed to act three decades ago because the future was too far away to be concerned, well tomorrow then is here today.

 

Where would we be today if we had taken the steps forward President Carter wanted to take on energy, instead of taking the convenient political road the industrial corporate complex lead us down with the help from politicians?  What if we don’t take the road President Obama is proposing to us now, what will our children and grandchildren write about us? Will they be able to write?

 

Education Reform will create the intellectual capital to ensure a competitive edge. If America falls behind and our children cannot gain the intellectual skills necessary to address the future we are Doomed. Every child deserves by right an education. Our competitors understand this, just look at that rise of China, India and the Middle East. They all invested heavily in education of their populations over the last three decades. That is why they are at the forefront in Energy, Industrial Production and Technology. They educated their workforce.

 

National Infrastructure not only includes Bridges, Roads, Dams and Buildings it also includes a Healthcare System an Education System and Energy System along with an Agriculture System a strong sustainable Monetary System a viable Cultural System and a National Security System. I know I have left other important areas out of the statement, you fill in the blank.

 

All of these issues are interconnected and they all need to be addressed now.

 

Let’s look at National Security. I would make the argument that every area I have mentioned is a National Security issue and every area plays a major importance in our National Security.

 

You may think that National Security is about protecting us from known and unknown enemies, while this is true the statement does not define the word enemy. While we search out Terrorists, we failed to search out the Bacteria in Peanut Butter that killed many Americans and sickened many others. The result was not only devastating for the victims it was also the largest product recall in American History that caused untold financial losses to American Businesses as the Peanut Butter made its way throughout the American Food Chain in a time a economic crisis. Food Safety is National Security and Infrastructure.

 

My point is this; America has a very large and complex system that requires a complex infrastructure with oversight and forward planning. It is just too big for the quick fix that would make a lot of people and politicians happy. The truth is we need consistence, persistent holistic measures to address a sustainable future.

 

The problems we face today usurp Politics and require courageous sustainable leadership.

 

Now I am going to go make a PBJ for lunch, well maybe not.  

 

Turn Off FOX and Tune into CSPAN       

 

 

Chinese Premier Worried about Investments in U.S. Washington Post Article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031300006.html

 

Filed under: Environment, Journalism, Media, Politics, Uncategorized , China, Cold War, Doom, Economy, Global Economy, Obama, Wen Jiabao

The Luce Foundation Center for American Art has a Great Website

Back of the Yards Mitchell Siporin 1938

I am always looking for exciting Art Websites and the Luce Foundation Center for American Art is a good one.

 

•  The center has a light box program that you can view its 3500 Artworks. You can even create your own personal collection, your favorites.

The Website is not as good as going to the Luce Center, which occupies three floors in the west wing of the Smithsonian, but if you cannot get to Washington, it is a close second.

The center is an open storage program that exhibits or openly stores artworks from the Smithsonian’s American Collection. That in its self is a great idea and gives you and me access to parts of the National Collection that would otherwise be locked away in traditional storage.

 The Website creates access to the collection beyond the walls of the museum and is a great resource on American Art.

•  Luce Foundation Center for American Art

http://americanart.si.edu/luce/index.cfm

Filed under: American Folk Art, Art, Art News, Art Prints, News, On Art, Painting, african art , American Art, Center, for, Foundation, Luce, Smithsonian, Websites

Is Art Dead? is this the End

Don’t worry Mr.Stubbs is just Acting

You might think so if you read the plethora of articles written on the end of Big Art and Non-Profit Art Organizations.

Auction Houses are reporting poor sales and the values of previously valuable artworks are in decline or on the skids altogether. More over the fate of many Art Museums and Non-profit galleries are simply stated unknown with their endowments devastated by the financial turmoil that is everywhere. Other Arts Organizations from symphonies to seasonal festivals are canceling their entire seasons and Universities are closing their art galleries and museums and talking about de accessioning their art collections to raise capital. Collectors are in a panic as their wealth is failing and want to rush out and sell the treasures in their collections at drastically depreciated values.

You the average artist might get the idea that the end is indeed here for the Art Market. That might be the case for at least parts of the big art market, but I believe that Two Art Markets exist in two very different Art worlds. Just as I believe that two financial systems or economies exist in America.

Let me start with the value of Art. One market professes that the value in art is an investment and it operates much like the stock market. The perceived values of artworks are abstractions that are difficult for even the top experts to understand. What makes a Damien Hirst or a Jeff Koones worth millions? Is it the aesthetic importance or is it a rare commodity. Is value a false premise to begin with? The world’s great art treasures certainly, have real value but are they really worth the hundreds of millions of dollars paid for them or are their values just as abstract as the values of stock derivatives.

The values of these treasures are as unreliable an investment as mortgage securities or stock derivatives. In fact, I would compare the Money that everyone is so upset about losing including me is a close cousin to Conceptual Art. It the money exists inside our minds as an idea without real substance. This money is simply numbers on paper or in a computer programs and has no real value except in the idea that is actually exists. In fact, recently when AIG was called (as in poker) to pay out insurance claims against losses they insured against they did not really have any real money. Their wealth was a concept on paper.

The same deal is going down in the Big Art Market. Values of artworks, endowment funds and the real value of all of these abstractions are now becoming Representational or Realistic, and the picture is a scary one to say the least. I guess because like the experts I just don’t get the whole concept and don’t know why it works or doesn’t for sure, maybe.

So where does that leave you the Artist, Writer, Musician, Actor, The Arts Worker. It leaves you with the second Arts Market and the Second Economy. Maybe I should just call it as I see it the real Market Place.

The Real Market is where real things get done, where actual work is preformed, real things are produced, and where real money, goods and services are exchanged. This is the market where the real value in what you produce exists. You write a book and you sell that book to someone that wants to read it. You sell a painting to someone that wants to hang it on the wall in their study because the real value is, they enjoy looking at the painting, it brings real pleasure to them outside it’s monetary worth.

It is where you take the money you earned from the sale of your painting and you buy lunch at the corner café. You tip the waitress and she takes the money she made waiting on you and buys fresh produced grown by a local farmer to feed her kids dinner.

The kids spent the day at the local Art Museum on school fieldtrip learning about art and making art projects and they share their new knowledge with Mom at dinner.

After dinner, Mom is amazed that the kids are forgoing TV and doing their homework. Johnny suddenly gets the math problem that was a conceptual enigma, but after seeing an abstract Artwork that the Docent explained to his class, he sees the math.

Jill is working on her English homework writing the poem she had been putting off but because the museum had, a poet read to the class she is inspired to write her own poetry.

Jimmy is in his room practicing his music lesson because at lunch, the museum had a drum ensemble perform and he too is now inspired to make music.

Mom decides that it would be a good idea to sign the kids up for more art experience classes and becomes a member of the museum that she pays for with the tips she earns from many different customers at her local restaurant.

Years later, her kids grow up and never forget the childhood experiences that the arts provided for them. They go to galleries and buy art, join museums and buy season tickets for the theater and local symphony.

And we all eat, drink and prosper. That is the value of the real economy. By now, you get the idea and if you think about it, you can insert any real product or service into the equation. It is this very simple premise, the exchange of goods, services and ideas that makes the real economy real and is where we Artists can find success.

How do we make this second economy work?

Once you begin to think about creating a real value economy you will figure it out, let your creativity your artist out to play.

I do not believe we can go it alone as independent artists.

We need to work collectively to create an Arts Presence. Places where multiple artists of every kind work in visible ways. We need to create a presence in our community, like an arts district. Even if we all cannot have a studio or shop, we need to create the availability a connection to each other. Some artists have formed co-ops where they work as a group and share the costs and work load.

The co-op does not have to be just visual artists. It could be a combination of disciplines. You could have a visual art gallery and a music center or performance component like dance or theater where the combined talents could offer dynamic combined events.

Examples of Artists Co-op’s

Tennessee

http://www.clarksvilleartists.org/

On-Line Co-op

http://burningartist.com/

Colorado

http://www.commonwheel.com/

West Virginia

http://www.icehouseartistsco-op.com/

Idaho

http://www.forestcraft.com/

Other artists have created Phantom Gallery Networks.

Before the current Boom and as business’s moved out of older Downtown areas for new digg’s in newly developed retail areas empty retail space became a problem across America. Many cities and towns had wide-open, depressed retail corridors that presented a dismal picture of the community. Artists working together with property owners, city officials and businesses filled those empty spaces with art. The programs also created events like Art Walks to bring people into these depressed corridors stimulated the local economy.

Today as the economy worsens and businesses close up shop, a lot of space is going to be available.

It will take someone with energy like you to organize and build a successful presence. You can sit around and wait for someone else to do something or you can take the lead and make it happen. Art is your life your lifestyle and your business.

Examples of Phantom Gallery Programs

L.A.

http://www.phantomgalleriesla.com/DowntownLA.html

Butte Montana: This link is to the Montana State Travel Site.

http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=16816&siteid=1

I added this link because it is a great example of how a presence can create value. Butte is in between two large National Parks Yellowstone and Glacier. Tourist travel I-90 and the Butte Phantom Gallery program gives them something to stop in town for. Most tourist use the internet to pre-screen their trips and stops. Tourists buy Art and Lunch.

More Butte

http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2006/07/07/newsbutte/hjjdjcjciijigc.txt

Tucson

http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/13/04_1.html

My wife and I lived in a loft in an old Hardware store in Downtown Tucson in the 1980’s Downtown was vacant and artists created a presence. One Saturday a month the local Arts Co-op sponsored an ad hoc art walk that brought thousands of people Downtown. It was fun and changed the perception of the Downtown area.

Now with the economy again bad, folks in your community are going to be looking for something to do that is fun and free. Local business will like the idea too because they want people to come out and spend money. In Tucson, the little shops and restaurants sold a lot of merchandise along with art.

Another way to go is to use existing businesses as exhibit space. Café’s, Banks, you name it, will hang art on their walls and you can create events like art walks that will bring people out and into those businesses. Everybody wins.

Art Spots

One thing that another Montana Artist and I did in Kalispell Montana years ago was start an Art Spot program. Marshal Noice a local painter/photographer and I the Director of a local museum made Art Spot flags. We got all of the hardware together to hang a flag at an art location. We charged each location the cost of the flag, hardware, and publication and hung Art Spot Flags creating an Art presence throughout town.

We created and printed a simple two-sided card with the Art Spot business names and address on one side and a corresponding numbered map on the other side of the card. If you visit Kalispell Montana the program is still working. Tourists can easily locate local art businesses and museums following the flags.

Note: Kalispell has a sign ordinance that restricts signage that is why we chose a flag. Most cities do not restrict Flags but do restrict signs and banners.

We had had a vision of doing something statewide with signage on the interstate to locate art hubs in towns across the state. It could still happen.

Art Spot Link

http://www.hockadaymuseum.org/Links.htm

The Internet

Today the internet is a very good place to start a collective or Social Network for Artists in your town, county, state or across the nation. I started a Montana Artists Network a couple weeks ago. The purpose was to create a site where anyone interested in the Arts Artists in Montana could communicate with each other to network and promote the arts.

I used Ning, which is a social networking platform to create the site. Ning is free for anyone to use and you can create your own network with ease using Ning. http://www.ning.com/

I want to stress that this type of social network is very different from a website. The format is far more interactive and flexible. Members control their pages and can do a variety of things to communicate and promote their art. Members can up-load Photos, Videos, create discussions, chat, list events, blog and many more. This type of format is dynamic and easy to use and it is free.

Examples of Ning Type Networks (I am a member at all three)

Montana Artists Network

http://montanaartistsnetwork.ning.com/

Brooklyn Art Project

http://brooklynartproject.ning.com/

Arts for Arts Sake

http://artsforartssake.ning.com/

We need to work together and create real value for our communities and our customers.

In Philadelphia, a Group of Artists are Bartering, Art for Goods and Services.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090308_A_barter_economy_for_art_in_Phila_.html

Many of these ideas are not new they just faded away with the boom times of the last decade. These Gorilla Marketing tactics grew out of need during the last down times, some hung on while others did not.

Today as we again face economic challenges in the arts, we need to explore ideas outside of what became the Box.

Looking for a new gallery may be the real challenge in today’s market. It might even become impossible as galleries scale back or close their doors along with museums and other non-profit art organizations.

You might just get a show if that gallery owner sees your work hanging in a vacant window a Phantom Gallery he or she walks past on the way to work.

As for the Big Art Market, most of us never got there to begin with. That market has been a far away illusion that made sensational headlines and captivated our dreams of fame and success. For the majority of us our market is still right here in front of us. All we have to do is create value to find success.

Success is measured in many ways, your success is personal, what do you really want from art, what is success to you.

The value of the arts is like a spider web, woven in many directions touching many places.

There are no limits of what we can do together only our imagination will limit us or free us. Put your creative thinking cap on and let your imagination fly.

Do the Arts Need a National Bailout

http://davideubank.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/do-the-arts-need-a-national-bailout/

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Culture Economey, How to survive as a Working Artists, Investing, News, On Art, Painting, Photography, Politics, Uncategorized , Art and the Economy, Art Co-op, Art Marketing, art sales, Investing in Art, Phantom Gallery

The Art of Propaganda and Tattoo Removal

Cutten the Pork

As the Senate labors to pass the 2009 Appropriations Bill, H.R 1105 the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 John McCain labors to derail spending for the federal government because of Pork Barrel Earmark Spending. This Bill Funds the Governments Budget for the rest of 2009 and has been in the legislation process for more than a year. The Congress couldn’t get their act together last year to pass the budget and enacted a continued resolution that runs out today. They did today get it together enough to continue the funding resolution until next week so the government could continue to operate.

 

 

http://appropriations.senate.gov

 

John McCain offered the Senate his top ten list on earmarks as evidence to support his failed amendment to continue level 2008 funding for the 2009 budget year. Well as many Senators pointed out, we are already half way through the 2009 budget year that runs from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. McCain was like the Rancher who tried to call the Ponies home after the coral gate was left open and they all ran off, only in his case the Ponies ran off last year. One earmark that he repeatedly pointed out was $200,000.00 for Tattoo Removal. Quickly the propaganda machine noticed his qua and Bill O’ Riley vomited that he hopes Angelina Jolie didn’t show up to get her Tat’s removed because she can afford to have that done on her own. And of course Sean Hannity jumped right in with his profound words of wisdom to pan the Tattoo removal program. Now all we need is Rush to lead us to the chosen land.

 

McCain’s Top 10

http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2009/02/27/earmarks-john-mccains-top-10except/

 

This wasteful Earmark was pork added to the bill by California Representative Howard Berman. http://www.house.gov/berman/index.shtml

 

The Earmark is $200.000 to purchase a Tattoo Removal Machine. To be used to remove Gang Tattoos and other types of Anti Social Tattoos that prevents people from moving on with their lives and becoming productive citizens. The program that would receive the funding removes these types of Tattoos free as part of a violence prevention program. The Providence Tattoo Removal Program helps former gang member’s reform and enables them to become employable and productive. Local Law enforcement praises the program for its success.

http://www.providence.org/losangeles/services/tattooremoval/default.htm

 

What is an Earmark? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earmark_(politics)

 

An Earmark Specifies that specifically identified funding must be spent on a specified program. This is how the congress has maintained power over the Executive branch of Government in regards to spending. That bridge you crossed on the way home might be an Earmark. This is how the Congress works and has worked for many years. Yes it controversial. On the other hand, it is how your representatives take action on your business. These Earmark programs are real programs and they provide real benefits to you the taxpayer in most circumstances. That is not to say there isn’t room for improvement or a better system. Like an open budget, that Obama just proposed.

 

Ok so I had the Flu this week and spent a lot of time watching CSPAN. So I watched this whole thing unfold as I lay on the couch whining or whimpering because I was sick.

 

However, what really pissed me off were John McCain’s top 10 and his remarks about the Tattoo Removal Earmark. Pork I hardly think so!

 

So now, here is the rest of the story.

 

Back in 1984, I went to work as a vocational instructor in a one of those wasteful spending programs in Tucson Arizona, John McCain’s district.  I worked with Juvenile offenders, gang prevention; in a program that provided vocational training, we had a print shop. Being an Artist, Printmaker, Photographer I taught kids the basic skills to design and print Tee Shirts, Bumper Stickers and Signs. But most importantly I taught them how to work, how to keep a job. We also offered these kid’s the opportunity to get a GED and many did. Many of our kids had Tattoos, Gang Tattoos. This was before Laser Tattoo removal had been invented and they were just stuck unable to move on. You see Gang Tats are specific to cultural geographic areas and if you live in a specific area, your Tats are a big sign hanging around your neck.

 

So one day in mid 1985 I went to a Dermatologist for a skin check, to get a mole removed. On my upper right arm was a Tattoo. It was a military Tat that I wasn’t real happy with so you can imagine how I felt when the Doctor asked me if I would like to get it removed for free. He told me that a Doctor from the Cleveland Clinic was coming to Tucson to train him in Laser Tattoo removal and that he needed people to volunteer to let him work on them. He told me he had been in Cleveland and practiced removing tattoos on Pigs whose skin is very much like human flesh. Well I was in, I agreed to let his experiment on me after all it worked out for the pigs. I always wondered what kind of Tats do pigs get anyway and where do they get them?

 

So to make a long story short I showed up at my appointment and became the second person in Tucson to have a Tattoo removed by Laser although as it worked out I think the Doctor used a Phaser. The Tattoo was gone and so was a significant portion of my arm, vaporized. Turns out the new machine was a little to hot not like today’s machines and instead of a bad Tattoo, I had a horrific scar after seven months of painful healing. The Doctor felt terrible and offered to attempt to reconstruct my upper arm, but I had had enough pain and opted to leave well enough alone. From there the Doctors perfected the Laser and treatment we have today, which works just fine in most cases.

 

Ten years later in 1995 I was again working with at risk youth in Tucson still John McCain’s district. The Gang problem had grown to epidemic proportions in ten years and every part of Tucson faced rising gang violence. As I was told over and over by the kids we worked with your either in a gang or your nothing. Kids are constantly recruited to join gangs in the neighborhood where they live they live in fear or join. Once you become a gang member there is no easy out. Gang tattoos are more like brands on cattle, the gang owns you period. Other gangs just see the Tats as identifiable targets and target you. Only your gang can protect you now, that is unless you leave and that is not allowed.

 

I remember a young man, about 18 years old who came to our program to get a job. His hands and face disfigured he told us a story about what happened to him. He quit his gang and so his old friends became enemies and kidnapped him. They took him out into the desert and removed his Gang Tats with a screwdriver, gouging away at his fingers, neck and face until the symbols were gone. Then they burnt him, ran over him with a car and left him for dead. The kid just wanted to finish school and get a job. Well he did. He was one of John McCain’s constituents.

 

But he never got any help from John “No Pork” McCain. After tens years working on the streets of Tucson, I can’t say many people in the Barrio have gotten much help from Big John. In his defense I have to admit that one of his aids in the Tucson Office was a great community asset, Lillian Lopez Grant did care about the people and tired her best to do the right thing for people who couldn’t change there own circumstances.

 

The fact is McCain is out of touch out of date. He has no idea what the people need and what is important for California or for that matter Arizona. That is why California elected their, own representatives. Yes John, Bill and Sean Tattoo removal is important and necessary for those people who are locked into the violence of gangs. They need help to move on and break the cycle of violence that has dominated their lives and the lives of generations of family members and the communities they live in. Don’t you all want these people to change to become productive citizens? 

 

There can be No change at the expense of political propaganda.

 

John, Bill and Sean count on the fact that you won’t seek out the real story the real truth. They rely on the political sound bites to enrage you to mislead you for their own political or entertainment ratings gain.  There is real power and real danger in the Art of Propaganda. You and I are the victims of false truths.

 

John held up H.R Bill 1105 and said look at the size of this bill over a thousand pages with over 9000 earmarks. Well frankly, it is big; it is a big Budget Bill for a very big country that has a big government that costs big money. Maybe John should have read the even bigger manager’s reports that accompanied the bill; maybe he would have learned something from their hard work to produce content to support the legislation. No John, never read the Bill or the Manager reports, he said so I watched him say it as part of the congressional record. It was just too big for him to understand. Well that’s why you guys hired the managers to oversee the complexity of the legislation.

 

More Frankly, John why didn’t you and your crew go to work to eliminate the Pork last year or for the six months you have had a continuing resolution? Why now at the end in the last minute is it now so important? The process the earmarks is the current system of congressional government at work John you have had nearly 30 years to fix it if you wanted too. You didn’t you haven’t so move forward.

The Old Ponies have all run off and they isn’t a cumin back, so lock the corral now before the New Ponies run off. If you don’t like earmarks then change the way congress appropriates funds. It seems to me that is what the President is trying to do with a fully transparent planned budget. We will see how that works out.

 

I hope the Provident Tattoo Removal program gets their new machine.

 

It is worth every Penny! 

 

Howard Berman if I were you I would post that Earmark prominently on my website for everybody to read, you should be proud you supported such an important program.

 

 

 

Filed under: Culture Economey, Ink, Investing, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Tattoo, Tattooing, Uncategorized , Art of Propaganda, Barrel, Congress Spending, Earmarks, H.R.1105, John McCain, Pork, Senate, Tattoo Removal