Philanthropy in the Arts: A Game of Give and Take

By Leslie Ramos

Arts philanthropy is at a crucial moment: many arts organisations are facing a financial crisis, the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of existing funding structures, and various social initiatives and causes have thrown renewed focus on how the arts are funded. Around the world, a new generation of philanthropists is emerging with different motivations and priorities. This book offers an open and wide-ranging exploration of philanthropy in the arts from the perspectives of both the donors and the recipients, seeking to improve understanding on both sides, and asks what the future holds for arts philanthropy given the rapidly changing landscape. It provides an essential guide for collectors, philanthropists and patrons, as well as art-market and museum professionals, on the peculiarities of giving and taking in the arts sector.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lund Humphries
• Release date: Oct 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781848226296

Book preview

Front Cover of Philanthropy in the ArtsHalf Title of Philanthropy in the Arts

Hot Topics in the Art World

Published in association with Sotheby’s Institute of Art

Series Editors

Jeffrey Boloten and Juliet Hacking, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London

This series of short, thought-provoking and sometimes controversial books debates key issues of current relevance to art-world professionals working in both the private and public sectors. The texts give wider visibility to some critical areas of professional art-world practice, considering what disruptors are challenging the status quo and how the art world is likely to be transformed over the next decades as a result.

International Series Advisory Board

Georgina Adam, journalist, author and art market Editor-at-Large of The Art Newspaper

Alia Al-Senussi, cultural strategist, patron, academic and lecturer

Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair (London – New York – Marrakech)

Jos Hackforth-Jones, former CEO and Director of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London

Louise Hamlin, Director of the Art Business Conference (London – New York – Shanghai)

Llucià Homs, Director of Talking Galleries, Barcelona

Zehra Jumabhoy, academic, critic and curator

Julie Lomax, CEO at a-n, The Artists Information Company, UK

Franklin Sirmans, Director of the Pérez Art Museum, Miami

Philip Tinari, Director and CEO of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing

Book Title of Philanthropy in the Arts

To Erica Segre, to whom I still owe fifty-eight thousand words

First published in 2023 by Lund Humphries

in association with Sotheby’s Institute of Art

Lund Humphries

Huckletree Shoreditch

Alphabeta Building

18 Finsbury Square

London EC2A 1AH

UK

www.lundhumphries.com

Philanthropy in the Arts: A Game of Give and Take © Leslie Ramos, 2023

All rights reserved

ISBN (hardback): 978-1-84822-628-9

ISBN (eBook PDF): 978-1-84822-629-6

ISBN (eBook ePub): 978-1-84822-630-2

A Cataloguing-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise, without first seeking the permission of the copyright owners and publishers. Every effort has been made to seek permission to reproduce the images in this book. Any omissions are entirely unintentional, and details should be addressed to the publishers.

Leslie Ramos has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this Work.

Copy edited by Michela Parkin

Designed by Crow Books

Set in Caslon Pro and Sofia Pro

Printed in Estonia

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1Giving

2Taking

3Barriers to Arts Philanthropy

4New Perspectives, New Models

Conclusion

Notes

Further Reading

Foreword

The idea of arts philanthropy, private money supporting public artistic culture, is a long-established practice that, in the current moment, is under intense scrutiny. With ever-diminishing public funding of the arts, combined with the dramatic, and often paralysing, effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on public institutions, arts organisations are at a critical crossroads as regards visitor numbers and funding. Add to these two considerable challenges, the increasingly critical scrutiny in the media of arts donations, often erupting into contentious public debates and protests, and we are very much left wondering what sort of future can be imagined for our funding-deprived museums and arts organisations, large and small. Will arts philanthropy, long subject to critiques of vanity, vested interests and artwashing, wither or thrive in this new arts environment?

Through personal and professional experience, intensive research and incisive interviews with major donors and art professionals, on an impressively global scale, Leslie Ramos has, in Philanthropy in the Arts: A Game of Give and Take, shone a truly engaging spotlight on the essential issues and challenges facing our art institutions. By means of an insightful exploration of the roles and key challenges of both Givers and Takers, Ramos presents and explores creative new perspectives on and approaches to the philanthropy landscape, and provides some essential ingredients for successful, thriving public models moving forward.

Jeffrey Boloten and Juliet Hacking, April 2023

Acknowledgements

This book is inspired by the love I have for artists and art institutions, my respect for everyone who works for arts non-profits, and my admiration for generous and committed philanthropists, companies and foundations the world over. To those that I have had the pleasure of meeting or who have helped me over the years or listened to my rants on the arts being underfunded, thank you.

I would like to start by thanking Georgina Adam, who was instrumental in getting this book off the ground and convinced me that I could actually do it! I am also tremendously grateful to Lucy Myers and the team at Lund Humphries, as well as to Jeffrey Boloten and Juliet Hacking for their feedback and guidance.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who agreed to be interviewed and those who helped bring these conversations about. Thank you for trusting me enough to share your views and experiences: Mae Anderson, Sarah Arison, Michael Armitage, Teesa Bahana, Lawrence Benenson, Melina Berkenwald, Laurence des Cars, Aaron Cezar, Diego Della Valle, Claire Gylphé, Jason Herrick, Eliana Hidalgo Vilaseca, Marguerite Hoffman, Pamela Joyner, Marina Kellen French, Aarti Lohia, Boris Marte, Jessica Morgan, Will Palley, Howard Rachofsky, Paul Ramsbottom, Charles Saumarez Smith, Nathalie Sauvanet, Claire Shea, Darren Walker, and all those that preferred to remain anonymous.

My friends, family, clients and colleagues deserve a special mention for not minding my sudden absences while writing, and for showing their support in their own special ways. Thank you to Tasneem Aliewi, Phil Allison, Alessio Antoniolli, Veronica and Lars Bane, Giorgio Bargiani, Anna Baturina, Francesca Bellini-Joseph, Tony Bloom, Los Bollos, Tatiana Boré, Anne Bourgois, Anastasia Bukhman, Mariangela Carta, Susan and Trevor Chinn, Ylenia Corsi, Simone Coscarelli, Antonio D’Apuzzo, Erica Firpo, Nicholas Forwood, Flavia Frigeri, Nicolas Gitton, Laura Grassulini, Jonathan Hammerstrom, Nora Hoegh, Geoffrey Kantaris, Minnie Kemp, Maura Milia, Fabrizio Montanari, Dagmawi Mulugeta, Jenny Pagoni, Agostino Perrone, José Robles, Ziba Sarikhani, Salma Tuqan, Maria Elena Turrini, Carolina Turrini, Navann Ty, Esta Verzoviti, Paola Votta, Alex White and Martin Wiwen-Nilsson.

And then there are those that have helped me in so many ways it is hard to thank them for just one thing. My colleague and friend Aurelie Cauchy, who nobly stepped into the breach so that I could concentrate on writing, Sally Forwood, sounding board and subeditor extraordinaire, without whom I would never have been able to write a book in my third language, and Alan Cantor, whose own writing on fundraising and development has been a source of great inspiration over the years, and who kindly reviewed some technical sections of this book.

Last but not least, my most heartfelt thanks to Tom. Every idea for this book and in life has begun and become reality because of him.

Introduction

A game of give and take

In a long conversation with the Dallas-based art collector and philanthropist Marguerite Hoffman, we spoke about artists in Ukraine, politicians’ love of misrepresenting the arts to justify not funding them, how museums should be a place for debate and discomfort, and how bad data can be at measuring art’s value. ‘I often ask people to close their eyes and imagine a world without artists’, Hoffman told me.¹ ‘That is a world I wouldn’t want to live in.’ Neither would I, nor most reading this book. I measure my life by how many times I am moved by art, to the point where friends and family joke that I can often be found weeping in front of a painting, at the opera or the cinema. The power of art shows us that humans can dream and think about the world not only as it is, but as it could be. Every work of art should have a tiny act of rebellion in it, push us beyond what is comfortable and challenge our views on the world. The best art reminds us of our lived experiences and gives us compassion for others – therein lies its value, and it cannot be easily measured on a spreadsheet.

Yet responsibility for having a flourishing arts ecosystem, particularly when it comes to non-profits, often resembles a game of pass the parcel. Between government politicking, public apathy and egotistical donors, benevolent and unconditional funding of the arts is often considered someone else’s responsibility. This is why the arts, and particularly smaller and medium-sized non-profit organisations, frequently find themselves underfunded.

This book has been written to show the importance of good giving from people and organisations who have faith in the value of the arts to societies, and to advocate for the significance of philanthropy to the health of the art world and its funding. It is precious to have people who put their money behind what might not be popular but is necessary, and not what has a good return within an election cycle but what can affect communities far into the future.

This volume is divided into four chapters that explore the four key facets of philanthropy in the arts. In Chapter 1, the focus is on the giving side of the equation, setting out the ways in which support is given and some of the key behavioural incentives that drive