Author: State University of New York, Art Department

Publication Year: 1981

Media Type: Conference paper/presentation

Summary:

Cosponsored by the Augsburg Foundation and the Alcoa Foundation, held at the State University College of Arts and Science, Potsdam, New York, October 30-31, 1980 - November 1, 1980. These proceedings are the result of a joint symposium and art exhibition held at the State University College at Potsdam in the fall of 1980. The symposium was planned to provide an exploratory context for the presentation and exchange of ideas on contemporary art patronage.

Abstract:

Cosponsored by the Augsburg Foundation and the Alcoa Foundation, held at the State University College of Arts and Science, Potsdam, New York, October 30-31, 1980 - November 1, 1980. These proceedings are the result of a joint symposium and art exhibition held at the State University College at Potsdam in the fall of 1980. The symposium was planned to provide an exploratory context for the presentation and exchange of ideas on contemporary art patronage. Although the primary emphasis was intended to be on patronage in the visual arts, the reader will quickly see that a significant portion of the remarks in these proceedings could be applied to the needs and problems of other contemporary art forms.

A major consensus to be found in these proceedings is that we are witnessing a dramatic shift in the patterns of contemporary patronage. Artists, patrons and the art public can no longer expect to see any one primary source of support as the basis of art patronage. If it is true to say that the arts today reflect a pluralism unheard of in America before the 1960's, it would appear that patronage itself has been transformed into a multi-faceted system. From its age-old roots in the private wealth and philanthropy of individuals and ruling cliques, whether church or state, patronage today has evolved into a variegated melange of public and private activities albeit with an emergent tendency towards ever greater reliance on corporate and business organizations.

Although it is apparent that we are seeing a re-shuffling of traditional structures and although the new patronage complex is too new to be evaluated meaningfully, a number of hopes and fears are reflected in these proceedings. For example, the reader will find repeated expression of concern that the individual artist to day, including his need for time and opportunity to work and for places to present the fruits of his labor, is being neglected in favor of the art consumer and the institutions created to maintain the re-presentation of culturally validated artifacts and art heroes. Along with this concern is a great deal of discussion of the new perceptions in the public mind regarding art as a commodity. This was seen to be particularly worrisome in light of the publicity given to soaring auction prices, flagrant examples of greed and malpractice among arts professionals, public relations oriented packaging of art, art as investment, and the politicalization and bureaucratization of the arts community.

On a more optimistic note, one can discern within these pages a conviction that, at the deepest level, there continues to be an unshakeable faith in the intrinsic spiritual values of art in our society. Inherent in this, however, was the sobering realization that the new patronage is in the process of creating new values and definitions of art which have yet to be identified.

The symposium was intended to stimulate imaginative thinking among scholars, art administrators, patrons (both individual and corporate), community cultural leaders, art educators, and student artists, about the creation and sustenance of feasible and meaningful patronage programs. Included among the speakers and panelists were arts scholars specializing in patronage research, representatives from major American art museums and galleries, artists, collectors, critics, corporate art specialists, and public arts agency representatives.

CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Dr. John C. Riordan.

2. Opening remarks and introduction of keynote speaker: Patricia Kerr Ross.

3. Keynote address: Jeanne Thayer.

4. Perspectives on Benefactors - Moderator: Dr. Kendall Taylor. 
    Solomon R. Guggenheim: Dr. Louise A. Svendsen. 
    Joseph H. Hirshhorn: Frank Gettings. 
    Roy R. Neuberger: Dr. Daniel Robbins. 
    Discussion.

5. Traditional patronage and contemporary realities - Moderator: Harriet Senie. 
    Statements by panelists: James Reinish, Stuart Shedletsky, Benedict Goldsmith,
                                         Walter Thayer, Nathan Lyons.
    Discussion.

6. Contemporary challenges in patronage - Moderator: Dr. John C. Riordan.
    Current issues in public patronage: Dr. Saraleigh Carney.
    Discussion.
    Enlisting corporate involvement in art patronage programming: Michael d'Amelio.
    Discussion.
    The corporation as art patron and collector: Beatrix Medinger.
    Discussion.
    The Artist, patron and collector: Stuart Shedletsky.
    Discussion.

7. The private individual as collector and patron: The formation of the contemporary
    art collection of Dorothy and Herbert Vogel.
    Introductory note: Dr. John C. Riordan.
    Presentation and discussion: Dorothy and Herbert Vogel.

8. Patronage issues in the 1980s - Moderator: Richard Callner. 
    Statements by panelists and discussion: Carlo Lamagna, Nina Freudenheim, Beatrix
                                                                Medinger, Nathan Lyons.
9. Speakers and panelists.

10. Acknowledgments.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Fundraising