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Bringing real art to real people - fractional ownership or shared spaces?
Hi everyone,
I believe that there is a real opportunity to help more emerging artists make a living from their work by making it more accessible. Today, we have a few artists who really 'make it' and a huge amount of unexploited talent among people who feel they could never make a living from their work. I think this has a lot to do with the size of the market for real art, and there is potential to grow it. To me, there are 3 main barriers -
- the 'system', operated by experts, designed to drive scarcity of high-value works (keeping the high value investors happy). This gets in the way of a direct relationship between an artist and potential buyers. (I know others would sing the merits of the system)
- location - if an artist is really lucky they get their work into a gallery. The trouble is that many ordinary people would be intimidated by a gallery. Instead, they end up buying prints on impulse (how many times have we seen the Ikea 'pebbles' or peoples' walls?)
- entry price - original art is expensive, partly due to the materials. £300 is a holiday for some people, so a difficult speculation for a largely unknown artist.
That said, I think people would love to have more genuine art on their walls, and to know the stories behind the pieces and where the artist is taking their career (many of us like to bluff a bit of expertise sometimes!).
So I am looking at 2 possible social enterprise models:
1) Fractional ownership - the work is available in online and offline galleries. Instead of buying the whole canvas, you buy a fraction of it. This entitles you to a limited edition print and 'time-share' option on the original piece. In this way, you not only get to appreciate the art, but you can get to know the artist and buy more fractions of other works. The value of the whole is driven by demand (auction) of the fractions.
I'm excited by this idea but need some advice in terms of FSA regulations - any helpers?
2) Shared spaces - if people won't go to the gallery, let's take the gallery to them. Securing space in public and private buildings and rotating art works between them. Any piece can be purchased online. Think canteens, foyers, lifts etc. A single well-know and trusted brand that delivers half the profits back into community art projects.
Any thoughts or ideas at this early stage? Success models or analogies?
Many thanks
David
Tags: art, artists, emerging, fractional, shared, spaces
Views: 56
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon Rainford on -
Or what about trying to promote the social enterprise model to artists in that a gallery could be run by them, for them in one of the many empty high street units up and down our country. surely this model, cutting out the middle man would cut the prices and give artists chance to directly understand their patrons.
I think the problem with this model is that many artists haven't got a clue how to get started. If there were a system where space was offered in return for working in it for part of the week and the chance to be able to sell their work without gallery fees it would be appealing.
Jon
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Permalink Reply by martin stynes on -
Hi Jon, I'm a member of a CIC group in Bolton Lancashire called NEOARTISTS :www.neoartists.co.uk
Have a look and see if this might support your idea. Get in touch if you need any more info on the group.
Martin
Jon Rainford said:Or what about trying to promote the social enterprise model to artists in that a gallery could be run by them, for them in one of the many empty high street units up and down our country. surely this model, cutting out the middle man would cut the prices and give artists chance to directly understand their patrons.
I think the problem with this model is that many artists haven't got a clue how to get started. If there were a system where space was offered in return for working in it for part of the week and the chance to be able to sell their work without gallery fees it would be appealing.
Jon
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Permalink Reply by David Boon on -
Jon, Martin,
Great builds thanks - I like the idea of a scaleable artist-owned model.
Useful pointers,
Many thanks,
David
martin stynes said:Hi Jon, I'm a member of a CIC group in Bolton Lancashire called NEOARTISTS :www.neoartists.co.uk
Have a look and see if this might support your idea. Get in touch if you need any more info on the group.
Martin
Jon Rainford said:Or what about trying to promote the social enterprise model to artists in that a gallery could be run by them, for them in one of the many empty high street units up and down our country. surely this model, cutting out the middle man would cut the prices and give artists chance to directly understand their patrons.
I think the problem with this model is that many artists haven't got a clue how to get started. If there were a system where space was offered in return for working in it for part of the week and the chance to be able to sell their work without gallery fees it would be appealing.
Jon
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Permalink Reply by Toby Procter on -
I don't entirely buy the dichotomy between the highly successful and struggling emergent artist. There are an awful lot of intermediate status artists whose work is accessible in certain types of place, where the cost of intermediaries is not always excessive in relation to the total revenues available from display and sale
Some space for art (2D at any rate) IS secured in public buildings. I bought a limited edition print from UCH hospital in London, supplied by the artist; but I understand the taxpayer, not the artists shown, supported the administration of the art provision in the hospital. Which is OK so long as the art displayed is generally agreed to contribute to patients/visitors/staff's wellbeing.
I can't see the merit of fractional ownership, beyond the existing availability of prints as relatively affordable substitutes for one-off originals. Investors in the future value of artworks need to be able to dispose of their investments at a market-determined price. The complexity and compromise involved in sharing and remarketing shares in such objects seems beyond practicality. How would public galleries secure fractional owners' permission to show such works if they came to merit public exhibition?
There was a time when people could rent highly affordable popular art reproductions (e.g. Tretchikoff green ladies) from libraries, as with books and music, including Boots The Chemist's. IKEA plays a comparable role now that manufacture and sale is cheaper than financing/administering rentals.
Ultimately, don't artists need intermediaries in order for markets to determine the value of their work if they want to generate a satisfactory income from it? Or they may just reasonably reconcile themselves to being amateurs, or finding dual sources of income. Might there be too many artists nowadays, in the same sense that there are far more musicians producing work than people prepared to part with money for it? Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
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Permalink Reply by Vittorio Cirefice on -
I think Toby Proctors views on this are very realistic, I also think any initiative to circulate or make real art (personal objects) is good. I would like to point out that in any society no matter how poor or primitive there is always an art object in the home to focus on. tribes inuites eskimoes etc, council houses always have a print over the fire place, this seems to justify hack paintings as being sigmificant art more so than say the mega rich always have at least one picasso. the danger with a project like this is the management or the curator ship of the works, i can see it all ending up in the same possition as now where the arts council, and art institutions are like the central committie before paelastrika in russia ,
i also comented on the tax and revinue produced by "insignificant" artists in Susan Jones group
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Permalink Reply by Ralph Spencer Steenblik on -
David:
Interesting ideas. I have a couple of thoughts.
AOL has been doing a marketing campaign where they sponsor artist and the work they produce becomes kind of a draw for people to use AOL's services. http://www.turningart.com
What about "the netflix for art": http://www.turningart.com.
Also I think that fellowships become a key way that the arts are supported (at least in the states). Another vital thing is a forum for artist to sharing conceptual ideas dealing with there art. Any time I curate an exhibition we schedule an artists discussion and or a lecture series.
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