In a year full of sales, shows and prizes, here’s the best news yet. My favorite contemporary art museum in New York City, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), has acquired two of my environmental artworks.
I’m sure you are asking yourself, how did this happen? While I am not at liberty to share ALL the details, I can tell you that a big supporter of my artwork also directs a charity. She suggested that the charity buy the work and donate it to the museum. Having never done a transaction like this, I wrote to Elissa Auther, Ph.D., the Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, to inquire about how this all works. I had been introduced to her by another New York curator just before Covid struck.
To my delight, Dr. Auther replied right away and put me in touch with the Collections Curator. She told me that MAD would be thrilled to be considered for the acquisition. Over the next six months, I learned a lot about how a museum acquires work. And I had the opportunity to discuss which pieces MAD would like to have.
Resources:
Museum of Arts and Design: https://madmuseum.org/
Elissa Auther, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs http://www.elissaauther.com/
Instagram: @eauther
My donors wanted MAD to choose work that would be on display. While this is not always something a museum can assure, in my case, Dr. Auther was particularly interested in Accidentals because it is such a large piece and the museum has the space to show it to great effect. Ropa Pintada made the cut because as an Arts and Design Museum, MAD periodically has exhibitions with garment and fashion themes and there would be future opportunities to include this piece.