So you want to be a Visual Artist, The Real Truth About a Life in the Arts After Graduation!

So you want to be a Visual Artist, The Real Truth About a Life in the Arts After Graduation!

As you spend your summer dreaming that you will be the next Picasso or who ever your favorite artists is, if you even have one. Here are some truths about Art Schools and a life in the Arts you need to know before you begin your education, your career.

First not all Artists are created equal. Artists come in all shapes and sizes and create in every conceivable medium. There are painters, sculptors, printmakers, ceramists, glass blowers, graphic designers, computers animators, photographers, filmmakers, those who work in multiple mediums, and those who invent new mediums. The list is endless and changes continuously with the advent of technology and interest related to the societies and time we live in and our personal experience. Just get on the internet and look around at what artists are doing all over the world. A life in the arts can be a great adventure depending on your perspective toward art and your point of view.

Many of you have been told that you have real talent for drawing, because you draw all the time and that you should study art.

Maybe you even paint or sculpt, take photographs or made a movie in high school. Maybe you are good on the computer and you have made some animations with Photoshop.  Regardless of what talent you have or what idea you have about art or what art is or isn’t, you are headed to art school.

Most Art Schools are not I repeat Are Not going to prepare you to make a sustainable living as a visual artist after graduation. You are going to have to sell a lot of what ever Art you make to earn a living.

You will hear a lot about the MFA programs you need to get into after you have your BFA. In fact, you may spend your junior and senior year in a four-year college building your portfolio so you can apply for a MFA program. Why? So you can teach Art to earn a living.

That is why your professors are standing in the classroom or studio teaching you art. They could not or have yet to make a sustainable living from their artwork. That does not mean they do not have talent and skill, it is just a real, fact of life in the art market.

In fact, less than 5% of all visual artists make a living from the art they want to create, their personal art.  To earn the salary of an art college professor making $40,000 a year you will have to sell about $100,000 worth of art every year. Whatever you hope to earn after graduation add 60% and that is your target goal for yearly sales. Even the best of the best art schools are bullshit when it comes to post graduate earnings and job placement for the visual artist who has pursued a traditional career in the arts.

Don’t let the “that’s not really art” line of bullshit derail you from pursuing new technical innovation either. Today art is far more than drawing, painting, sculpting, ceramics, textiles and photography. I listed photography last because photographers hear that photography is still not really art, still today after nearly 200 years after its invention.  You will hear the same about electronic art mediums too. Art can be created with anything, any medium your creative mind can conceive from garbage (that’s real trash from the dump) to megabytes and anything else you can lay you hands on.

Check out Chris Jordan’s work “Running the Numbers” http://www.chrisjordan.com/

Now when you and your parents are sitting in the guidance office with an academic adviser and they tell you how great the schools job placement is for the traditional visual artist. Call BULLSHIT.

If you are talking to an adviser at the Art Institutes of America, (they have city names in front of Institute like the Seattle Art Institute) or whatever city they are located in call BULLSHIT twice. Schools from Harvard to the Art Institute of (you fill in the blank) are there to sell you an education. They will sell you on what you believe you want to buy and for as much money as they can get out of you or your parents.

The question you have to ask right now, is what you are buying worth the price. Again, another Fact of Life you need to learn right now before you rake up a big bill or worse yet a big debt that isn’t worth what it cost you.

I guess if your parents are willing to pay the bill for you to pursue your dreams then go for it. You won’t have the burden of excessive debt to subjugate you to a life of poverty.

If you have to barrow money (student loans) to go to school you really, need to think about what you are buying.

You cannot discharge student loans in bankruptcy. In fact Federal Subsidized students loans can dog you until the end of your life if you default. The government can and will seize your income tax returns, your property, your pay check and they can prevent you from obtaining federal employment and prevent you from getting any type of home mortgage that has anything to do with government lending or guarantee programs.

Defaulting on any Government loan can create a life of financial and economic nightmares that just won’t go away until you pay the money back.

So you better be prepared to earn a living that will allow you to pay the money you barrow back. That is another reason your professor is teaching. He or she spent $100,000 plus to get an MFA and off to work they go because I owe I owe as the seven dwarfs sang as they went to work in pursuit of their dreams.

Art is still burning in your blood like a fever that just won’t let go.

This creative fever is the torment that all true artists endure. I can tell you that if Art and a creative life are truly in your blood then there is nothing you can do except give in and pursue a Life in the Arts. It will never let you rest regardless of what you do for a living.

In fact many Artists were side tracked into other professions like medicine, law, business and many others where they made enough money to retire and then pursued their art because of the fever that runs in the blood of a true creative.

How do you know if you are a true creative, well you will just know, the creative fever won’t let you alone. The desire will always be there, you are just a creative junkie.

Your creativity can be satisfied though in many different ways and that is what we are going to talk about now, Survival for Creative’s.

Regardless of what you chose Doctor, Painter or Art Program Director creativity is really a mental thing. Creativity is about ideas and taking those ideas and turning them into some form of reality. Combined with the mental or intellectual side of creativity is the physical part of what you enjoy doing. As Artists, we tend to work in mediums that we enjoy, like paint, pencils, clay the computer, whatever. We tend to focus on details of the medium that stimulate us. For some of us it is working in realism for others it is abstractions. Still focusing further, some of us love color, form, sunsets or intellectual problem solving.

What you have to do is figure out as an artist what elements of art you like then find a commercial application that fits your likes with as few dislikes as possible. This is your fall back job if you do not make it into the 5% margin of artists who are lucky enough to earn a living from their work.

Your fall back position could be the MFA and teaching, but MFA’s are a dime a dozen today and teaching may not be your second calling.

You need to research right now jobs in the creative fields that are in demand. Then make sure you get training in the one with the most employable opportunities you will enjoy doing for a long time or at least a job with the least objectionable insults to your artistic being, a job that will allow you to earn a living and pursue your dreams as an Artist.

Here are some tips on what your school needs to provide to you as a Creative as an Artist.

First, let me explain what I mean when I call you a Creative. I believe that we were born as Creative’s. We are a splinter group of the population as a whole and we just have creative DNA or spirit. When we take aptitude tests, we score dominantly on the creative side of the scale. We are also sometimes called intuitive thinkers but we can also be analytical by nature too. I think there are the “Creative’s” and then there is the rest of the population. Creative’s exist in all vocations and in all occupations. The largest numbers of Creative’s are drawn into the Arts because as a vocation the Arts satisfy our basic needs as creative beings. Painters, Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Film Makers to name just a few of the many vocations we dominate.

No School and No Teacher can teach you how to make Your Art. What they can teach you is a set of skills that will enable you to make your art. Your art is yours, you have to find your art yourself. A good teacher is a mentor that will help you find your way, will help you find your voice and teach you the skills you need to make your voice heard.

As a creative you need to learn as many skills as you can so you can turn your ideas into some form of reality for the non-creative’s.

Your school needs to offer a curriculum that helps you build a diversified set of skills, skills that will enable you to make art and a living.  One of the worst inventions of the academic system today is the core curriculum. Although this system might offer you a wide range of skills in traditional art, it may not offer you the skills you need to earn a living. Much of the core curriculum programs are too grounded in traditional skills to allow you the student to broaden the needed skills you will need to make a living.

Aside from learning how to paint, you need to learn some marketable skills like for instance computer graphic design. Don’t like the computer well get over it. You may not want to be a graphic designer but you are going to need solid computer skills to self-market your work until you make it and can afford to hire someone else to market you.

You are also going to need business training including courses in marketing because you as a traditional artist are going to be in business for yourself and you need to know business and the business of art.

You are also going to have to learn how to write so you need to take writing courses. You don’t like to write or were never good at it, well you still need to learn. If you are, still no good at it then get a good editor. You are going to have to be able to talk and write about your work. You may find as you mature as a creative that you really like writing. In fact, maybe you are dyslexic many artists are. You don’t write because it has always been hard and you failed in school, well that is what editors are for. Some of the most creative writers in history had really good editors to correct their English.

If you think, you might like to teach then take teaching courses in addition to the standard MFA course work because to teach in public schools you will need those education courses to be certified to teach.

My point is you have to go to a school that helps you build the skills you need to earn a living while you pursue your art career. If the curriculum is too restrictive to allow you to pursue a subset of secondary skills, find another school. At most, four-year schools you can always combine art with a minor in a related field that is of interest to you.

The more skills you have the better prepared you will be for the real world.

Here are some art vocations that have a high demand, pay well and may keep your creative genius alive and well. However, you are not limited to my list. Do your own research and create your own list of possible secondary vocations.

Arts Management and Development.

http://artsmanagement.net/

http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/majors/50.0704.html

If you think you might like to manage an art organization like the NEA then an advanced degree in Arts Management might be for you in addition to your degree in Painting.

If you think you would like to raise money for the arts learn development because people who can successfully raise money are always in demand.

Museum and Gallery Management.

http://www2.lib.udel.edu/subj/muse/internet.htm

http://www.museumsassociation.org/home

http://www.aam-us.org/

If you like great art and want to work in a place that has great art look into museum and gallery management. You could learn to be a curator, exhibit designer, registrar, conservator or museum director.

If you like detail work you could become an art conservator or preservationist.

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/

http://www2.lib.udel.edu/subj/muse/internet.htm

Today there is a real shortage of Painting Conservators and these jobs pay very well and require well-developed artistic skills. Conservators and preservationist work in all types of areas from architecture to film.

You could become and appraiser if you like studying artists and art as a hobby, combined with your desire to make your own art you can make a good living appraising art.

If you like working on the computer, then learn every professional Adobe program available. Savoy computer designers and Photoshop experts can earn a good living. In addition, learn how to build websites along with the most innovative skills need to be competitive today.

Again, my point is simple. Broaden your knowledge of the jobs in the arts and your skills. The more skills and diversification you have the better able you will be at earning a living. A broad range of skills will also open up new and unlooked for ways to make art, allow your creative voice sing, and be heard.

Some other things to consider

Talk to artists you know about their career. If you don’t know any go out and meet some.

Look for successful artists and not so successful artists where you live. Look in the phone book or on the internet. Call them up and ask if you can talk to them about a career in art or about their career in art. Artists are people and like to talk about their achievements just like you. The more artists you talk to about art and career the more you will learn.

Go to museums and galleries, in fact volunteer at your local museum or art organization for anything. You will find out a whole lot about art organizations.

If that doesn’t work call up the curator and ask for a interview to talk to them about a career in museum management.

Call anybody in any arts position you want to know more about and schedule an interview. This is not an interview for a job. This is an interview for you to find out about a job or vocation. You are the interviewer, ask them what you want to know about what they do for a living and how they got their job. Find out about their background, what lead them to choose this vocation. Have your questions ready when you call. I bet you find some visual artists working in every imaginable place in the arts you look.

Yes, your high school guidance counselor should have told you to do this and so should have your college academic advisor. Just remember they are in the business to sell you an education. You get what you pay for so buyers beware. Also, remember you are the customer and you are going to pay big money for your education so you had better buy the education you need and want.

One other thing you can do as you study art or an arts related field is look for internships. Find out if your school offers assistance with internships as part of the curriculum. Internships will give you hands on experience that you can use on a job resume once you graduate. Take advantage of every opportunity even if your not sure its for you because you will learn something of value and find out what you really like and dislike to do for a living.

Before you barrow all that money be sure you are going to be armed with a diversity of jobs skills when you graduate that will enable you to earn a living and pay back those student loans.

A Life in the Arts is a wonderful thing for Creative’s so use your creative ability to get the life you want. Good Luck.

The statistics that colleges hate to share

http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com/2009/07/12/the-statistics-that-colleges-hate-to-share/

Art Job Resources

http://www.artjob.org/cgi-local/displayPage.pl?page=index.html

http://art.nmu.edu/department/AD_Career-Jobs.html

http://www.artinfo.com/job/

http://www.nga.gov/education/internvol.shtm

http://www.rfag.org/Education/Apprenticeships/tabid/235/Default.aspx

http://www.communityarts.net/training/archivefiles/apprenticeshipinternship/

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, On Art, Uncategorized , Art education, Art Jobs, Art Resources, Art Schools, become and artists, Chosing an Art School, How to become an artist, Study Art, You want to be an artist

A Controversy of Transformation and Shepard Fairey

OBEY I am not a Crook, digital montage by David Eubank

A very well written article by Steven Heller on the Art of Shepard Fairey and the controversy of the transformative factor in art and copyright law.

Long live Dada!

Shepard Fairey is not a Crook, by Steven Heller

!! READ THIS !!

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Art Prints, Culture Economey, Journalism, Media, News, On Art, Painting, Shepard Fairey, Uncategorized , Fairey, Shepard

An Art Adventure, Visiting the Archie Bray, Helena Montana

An Art Adventure, Visiting the Archie Bray

Walking the 26 acres through the ruins of the old brickyard that is home to the Archie Bray Foundation is a surreal experience, like that of Alice as she explored Wonderland.

My Alice on this trip was my youngest daughter Kate. Kate is an Art student at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell Montana.

Clay excites her, just ask her about the possibilities of making art with clay and be ready for a long conversation. Kate had just returned home after she cut her spring break trip to Seattle a day short. With a day to spare, I suggested we take a quick day trip down to the Archie Bray to see what was going on. The Archie Bray is located just outside Helena Montana, about a three-hour drive each way from Columbia Falls Montana give or take a few deer crossings on the Swan Highway. If you’re not from Montana, you have to realize a 6 hour round trip is a short drive in a very big state.

Established in 1951 by Brick Maker Archie Bray, “…for all who are sincerely interested in any branches of the ceramic arts, a fine place to work.” Archie Bray, Sr. 1951

Archie Bray Foundation Website: http://www.archiebray.org/

As you enter the grounds, you immediately know you are some place speacial. Spread across the landscape is remains of Artist Residents past and present. Sculptural installations inserted into the ruins of the old brickyard along with discarded pots and ceramic sculpture left behind as former Resident Artists left this special place to make their marks on the art world. Many former Resident Artists, noted in every who’s who list of the modern art world have transformed the modern arts and crafts movement into what it is today. Ideas and the freedom to explore new ideas and methods through the creative process is the magic of the Archie Bray, a rare and unique opportunity in today’s society.

To attempt to explain the presence of place that you as a visitor experience in words, as you explore the grounds, is a poor substitute to recreate the feeling and mood of the Bray. Mysterious marvels hide in every corner high and low.

Venturing into the old Brick kilns is something like entering old forgotten temples of the past. Walls of thick glaze attached to the interiors of the kilns run over the firebrick, with greens and yellows that peer out of the darkness glimmering in the shafts of sunlight beaming in from vent holes above. Mysterious machines and tools litter the grounds often becoming part of art installations.

Fantastic structures rise up out of the landscape and create a surreal experience foreign to the natural landscape.

The ruins of Wonderland stimulate the imagination and the inner child artist in all of us. Make no mistake; in this Wonderland, the future of ceramic art and craft is now being invented and transformed. The New the Next great ideas are taking shape, form and they will become part of the history, and the legacy of the Bray as it has been now for nearly six decades.

As Kate and I explored the Bray, we were having a lot of fun with our own invented scavenger hunt. We were looking for the Tops created by former Bray Artist Richard Swanson. http://www.richard.swanson.com/Multi.html Swanson’s Tops are everywhere throughout the landscape in the likely and the most unlikely places. We wondered, how did he get that one up there? This is the story of the Archie Bray, treasures around every corner and on every pinnacle.

For you the reader to truly understand and experience the Archie Bray you just have to go there. The Bray is just one of those magic places that hold a different and unique adventure for everyone.

Your trip to the Archie Bray will be punctuated with encounters with current Resident Artists working in and out of their studios. The New Resident Studios are open to visitors and give you the opportunity to meet and watch the artists work.

The Bray Art Gallery is host to current and past artists; their work is on display and for sale. If you want to get your hands dirty, you can take classes and attend art clay workshops throughout the year taught by the leading Artists in the field today.

As we left Kate had the Archie Bray summer clay workshop schedule in hand. This years summer workshop schedule offers the young artist an impressive choice of opportunities to learn from today’s masters in the field. Kate also picked up a product catalog from the Archie Bray Clay Business. The Clay Business sells, well clay and all the material and tools the artist needs. After years of the best of the best, the Clay business is an impressive resource, and they ship. Kate was very excited about the variety and colors of glazes stocked in the shop.

So if you live in Montana or are going to visit, make the Archie Bray a mandatory stop or day-trip on your schedule, you won’t be disappointed.

As Kate and I keenly watched for deer on our three-hour trip back home through the Swan, our lively conversation about the Archie Bray fueled ideas and our imaginations.

New Wood-fired Kiln aera

Check out the Archie Bray Foundation Website. http://www.archiebray.org/

Filed under: American Folk Art, Art, Art Marketing, Art News, How to survive as a Working Artists, Journalism, News, Uncategorized , Archie Bray Foundation, Artists Trips, Ceramic Art, Clay, Modern Craft, Montana Art, Montana Artists, Montana Vacations, Wonderland

Do the Arts Need a National Bailout?

Do the Arts Need a National Bailout?

Times are tough for the Arts in America. Even the 50 million dollars in stimulus money won’t help much as endowment funds nationwide are trashed. Robert Lynch, points out the 50 million in new money will do little to cover losses art organizations have suffered this year. Lynch uses San Francisco as an example, where art organizations have lost an estimated 40 million in state funding alone. The current loss of revenue in the arts nationwide will surely amount to billions of dollars.

Conversation with Robert Lynch, NewsHour post by Jeffery Brown

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2009/03/conversation-robert-lynch-president-americans-for-the-arts.html

Floyd Norris asks the question “What are art organization suppose to do”? He points out that many small organizations are devastated today and they have little financial power to offset their losses. He points out colleges are in the same boat. I would point out that the Big Art organizations are too.

In fact, I would suggest our largest art organizations may be in more trouble than our small ones. The big guys have big budgets and have suffered big losses. Big organizations also have the need and expense of large staffs. A small organization can in many instances reduce paid staff and maintain functional viability with a volunteer work force until the economy improves. Big organizations simply cannot or could not function without their professional staffs. Two very different worlds exist today where reality and needs are dramatically different as are fundamental funding realities. Many large museums spend more money on one exhibit or performance production than small organizations spend in their yearly operational budget expenditures. It may turn out that the weak market survives this crisis and in the end comes out much stronger.

The Money is Gone Now What by Floyd Norris NYT

“There was outrage earlier this year when Brandeis University announced plans to close its art museum and sell the paintings. The university’s endowment was devastated by bad investments.

What do people opposed to the sale of paintings think suddenly poor institutions should do? Close? Seek government bailouts? Should Brandeis close down a few academic departments, or cut back on scholarships, to keep its art?

Brandeis is hardly the only college whose endowment has contracted sharply. I suspect that when the final numbers are in — and colleges are not exactly rushing to disclose the sad details — it will turn out that colleges as a group did far worse than the stock market while the market was doing horribly”. Floyd Norris NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20norris.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

The question remains “Do you sell off your assets to meet your budgetary needs”?

As Ford W. Bell says in his letter to the editor, to do so would violate the public trust.

Letter to the Editor from:

Ford W. Bell
President
American Association of Museums
Washington, March 23, 2009

“Allowing a museum to peddle its collection to cover operating debts would be like allowing a financial fiduciary, such as a bank, to raid assets held in trust to cover a hole in its own balance sheet”. Ford W. Bell

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/opinion/lweb31museums.html

The fact is the Banks essentially did exactly what Mr. Ford says museums should not do, they raided assets held in trust for their customers through a series of bad investments. Just ask your elderly parents who’s retirement accounts are now only worth a fraction of what they were a year ago. Just look at your IRA or just about any other secure investment account you have, even trust funds. The reality of the facts, the reality of the depth of this economic crisis is reflected in the figures. It is no different for the Arts.

This past Sunday I was trying to help my youngest daughter with her college economics homework, she is an art student taking an economics course. I would compare my help to a monkey trying to perform brain surgery with a stick. I was going compare the monkey with a paintbrush in hand creating a master work of art to myself as an artist. I quickly realized that the monkey may in fact be far more skilled than I; in the creation of masterpieces and probably would quickly develop a profitable market for his art. I am looking for a monkey all I have is two old dogs who sleep most of the day and won’t work.

We were looking at the Elasticity of markets, Supply and Demand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

The example we were using was the farm market. In the example variables increased production while demand remained the same. When demand is lower than production increases in supply drive down profits, so even if you produce more at less expense you still make the same profit or less. Only when demand is higher than available production do profits rise, but even then given the variables over all income can remain flat. For example if a natural disaster creates a loss of production the increased demand raises prices but the loss of production balances the profits.

So it seems to me that if for example museums start to sell off assets, works of art the fire sale will drive value and profit down and in the long run everyone will lose. Just look at the Auto Companies or the housing market. Great deals will emerge from the flood of art into a depressed market but the flood will devastate value and profit. Perhaps Art Organizations can learn from the lessons of farming. Farmers often store their grain until markets become favorable.

Perhaps as bad as it will sound Museums and other Art Organization should temporarily close or reduce schedules until the viability of the market returns. They then would still have their assets. Many large organizations could use their collections or their talent in better or more efficient ways to reduce operating costs and maintain profits. Maybe they could find other ways to generate income from their collections and at the same time help smaller organizations present exhibits and performances that are more dynamic.

As an example, a big organization could loan artwork to a small organization. The two could share revenue generated by the exhibit as partners. Done creatively smaller organizations could increase the quality of their exhibits and stimulate increased attendance/audience. The big organization could create income from under utilized parts of their collection and increase audience and income. After all most big museums only exhibit small portions of their collections at any given time. Activity creates income for everybody.

I am sure Brandeis University could find another organization that would love to show artwork from their collection. They could also earn income from the loans of artwork even if the Rose Museum temporarily closed. They could possibly find more value in keeping their collection intact than they will earn by selling it off as a depreciated asset. Of course, they would have to figure out how to make a program work in a distressed market, but they are a university. Surely, someone on the university staff can figure out a smart (Creative) way to proceed forward and create a profitable program.

Maybe they could ask the folks over at the Museum Loan Network for advice; they have been working with large organizations for years, helping those organizations use their collections more effectively.

Museum Loan Network

http://dl.lib.brown.edu/mln/about.html

As an example: One organization reduces operational activities. They collaborate with an organization that is in better shape. They charge a reasonable fee to package and ship the exhibit. Then both organizations share revenue generated by exhibit. Movie companies have operated this way successfully for years. Your local movie theaters make profit from supportive activities, like popcorn and soft drink sales. Surely, the brainpower in the Arts can figure out supportive revenue programs combined with admission fees and memberships sales. Even the last two areas will produce profit when program quality and interest increase.

Small potatoes, well small potatoes can add up to big profits. Just look at what Matt Jones in Seattle has accomplished with his Mashed Potatoes program at Gasworks Gallery in Seattle. The Cooperative Gallery charges an admission fee paid for in potatoes or food for the food bank. They have raised millions of pounds of potatoes and other food supplies for the local food bank one potato at a time. http://www.mashedpotatoes.org/

Gasworks Gallery: http://gasworksgallery.com/

Matt Jones Delivers 50,000 pounds of potatoes You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=122fGSv4T8o

My advice to the Art Organizations of America is get creative and find sustainable solutions to your problems before you sell the cow for some magic beans.

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Culture Economey, How to survive as a Working Artists, Investing, Journalism, Media, Movies, News, Politics, Uncategorized , Art News, Art Organizations, Bail out, Bail Out for the Arts, Creative Art, Fundraising, Money for the Arts, Museum Management

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

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 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

1934: A new Deal for Artists.

Franz Kline 1910-1962

• 1934: A new Deal for Artists. A retrospective of American Art of the Depression.

 

The exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum showing now through January 3, 2010 is an example of what a government stimulus program can do not only for the arts but also for the country. The selected works tell the story of the Great Depression through the eyes of American artists of the time. President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration created the first government program to support the arts nationally. He and his administration understood how art could sustain the American spirit during a time of crisis and great hardship.

 

The program only lasted six months from December 1933 to June 1934. Artists were paid to depict “the American Scene”. Many public artworks were as we know them today site specific like percent for the art projects. Others were created throughout American in cities and in rural America. Artists not only had an opportunity to earn a living through the program during the depression they also were able to serve their country in a time of crisis.

 

You can see the exhibit on the web at http://americanart.si.edu/

 

One thing I noticed is that many of these artists went on after the program and had very successful and influential carriers like Franz Kline.

 

Once you are at the Smithsonian site, you can click on the link to see the Flash Program of the exhibit. I had trouble with the Flash version and you may have to adjust your computers program to view it if your security program blocks the application. I have included the link to the Non-Flash page that I found worked just fine.

 

Non Flash Link

http://americanart.si.edu/education/picturing_the_1930s/non-flash.html

 

Take a little time and look at what artists did during the last depression a time of crisis not unlike today’s financial crisis in America. It is clear to me as an Artist that the Art’s can sustain the human spirit in times of crisis and that Art can give us not only hope but purpose in our endeavors.

 

Enjoy the 1934: A new Deal for Artists Exhibit

 

http://americanart.si.edu/

 

http://americanart.si.edu/education/picturing_the_1930s/non-flash.html

 

 

 

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Culture Economey, How to survive as a Working Artists, Journalism, Media, On Art, Painting, Photography, Politics, Uncategorized , American Art, Art of the Depression, Depression, Franklin Roosevelt, Franz Kline, Obama Stimulas Plan, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Stimulas

Join the Montana Artists Network

Montana is home to many artists working in every imaginable venue. Almost every community has some kind of arts program. Yet artists are spread across a vast landscape and often are isolated from one another. Montana is a very large place and traveling from one end of the state to another is a journey. We Montana Artists often do not have the opportunity to communicate with each other to share our work and ideas. This week I started a social network on Ning in hope of bringing Montana artists together in a central location on the web so we can communicate. Ning is a cloud network that supports the site. Montana Artists Network, http://montanaartistsnetwork.ning.com/

 

 

In addition to communicating with each other, the site offers the ability to promote our work and our ideas to the world.

 

Nothing is in stone, the site can develop in anyway the users want it too. Collectively we can have a lot of fun promoting our work and our ideas.

 

• The Montana Artists Network was created to link artists throughout Montana in a central network to promote the arts in Montana.

To join is totally FREE. You can create your own page and promote your art. You can create Blogs, Discussions and List Events. You can upload your photos, videos of your artwork to your page. The Network is open to anyone interested in promoting the Arts in Montana: Artists, Galleries, Art Organizations and Patrons of the Arts.

Why did I create the Montana Artists Network? After much thought and participation in other Artists Networks, I felt Montana Artists needed a site where they could easily communicate throughout the state with each other, share their ideas, artwork, and promote the arts in Montana globally.

In addition, cost and user friendly was a major factor in creating this site. The Ning network is free and is easy to use. You have complete control over the content of your page. You can use the page editor to control the appearance and options you like. You can add other technical resources to your page like Twitter and many others.

As the de-facto site manager. I will do my best to address any suggestion you have. Please let me know how the site is working and if there are things we can do together to make the site better.

I look forward to promoting the arts in Montana with you.

David Eubank

 

Check it out and Join the Montana Artists Network and please invite your friends to join too, the network is open to everyone interest in the Arts in Montana

http://montanaartistsnetwork.ning.com/

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Culture Economey, How to survive as a Working Artists, On Art, Painting, Photography , Art in Montana, Montana Art, Montana Artists, Montana Artists Network

He’s Still a Gangster? Shepard Fairey Arrested in Boston

 

Well Shepard Fairey missed his big opening at the ICA in Boston he was arrested for graffiti.  On his way to the opening where his audience awaited the Boston Police seized their man. Seems Shepard spent the few days leading up to the show creating public art in unwanted places. The Police and as it seems the people of Boston were not too impressed with his work on private property. I found the most interesting part of the story in reader comments, in the Boston Globe article.

 

Many of his fellow street artists mostly because of his success have criticized Fairey. They feel he has sold out to the establishment. So is this why he was out tagging to redeem his rep? Or was this a publicity gag that worked. Maybe drafting on Obama’s fame and fortune has slowed down. Fairey got a lot of good PR out of his poster. He got into the National Portrait Gallery without a ticket and he got the Boston Show. Now we will see what he gets.

 

I like his work to be honest regardless of what anybody says. I like the fact the he steals from artists of the past like Rodchenko and Heartfield. I like the fact that he uses familiar images that bombard us, only he makes us pay attention to them. I like the fact that he has a social agenda, that he is a voice that has power. I like the fact is getting attention, but he may not be so happy if he lands in jail. But hey you can’t buy this kind of stuff on your resume.

 

When Henry David Thoreau was in jail for his civil disobedience, his friend asked him what he was doing in there. Thoreau replied, “What are you doing out there”? 

 

 

Story in the Boston Globe

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/08/street_artist_will_get_day_in_court_for_pasting_up_his_art/

 

Read the Comments, very interesting.

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/02/controversial_s_1.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed6

 

 

Related Posts by David Eubank

 

The Art of Politics

http://davideubank.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/the-art-of-politics/

 

The Vocabulary of Change

http://davideubank.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/rodchenko-heartfield-fairey-the-vocabulary-of-change/

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Art Prints, Culture Economey, How to survive as a Working Artists, Journalism, Media, News, On Art, Politics, Shepard Fairey, Uncategorized , Boston Globe, Shepard Fairey, Shepard Fairey Arrested, The Art of Politics