How Charity Auctions Can Do More Harm Than Good For An
Artist’s Career
A while ago I wrote the following in an attempt to purge
feeling slighted by yet another charity art auction. I waited a while to give myself time to get
over it and then reread to determine if I would publish it. I’m going to go ahead and publish it as I’m
sure there are many other artists who've had similar experiences. Hopefully it will open dialogue between
artists and charity coordinators who seek contributions of artworks from their
creators…
I’m feeling overwhelmed lately by a mixed bag of emotions;
depression being the most paralyzing in the mix. I recently donated an original triptych for a
charity auction. It’s a good cause, I
know and admire the coordinator and it was potential for my work to be exposed
to a new crowd.
Belief in a cause and the potential for new exposure; the
only sensible reasons an artist donates artwork for charity auction. Sorry auction coordinators, but “free event
admission” for the artist is not a favor to the artist:
1) it’s
not a party for us as we’re working to promote,
2) you
can’t get as much buck for the art if the artists aren't there working the
crowd,
3) the
artworks auctioned for charity almost always sell for significantly less than
their fair market value (this can devalue artists’ work and create disgruntled
collectors) and
4) Most
importantly artists may legally deduct only the cost of the materials used to
make the artwork NOT fair market value or even the winning bid amount.
a) Oh
but if a collector purchases a work of art then donates it to the same auction
that collector gets to deduct the amount of the sale (or the original purchase
price if the work sells for less).
i)
There’s not an inequity here is there (snark).
5) Let
me clarify number 4 above!
a) IT
IS ILLEGAL FOR AN ARTIST TO TRY AND DEDUCT THE FINAL AUCTION PRICE OF THEIR
DONATED ARTWORK AS A CHARITABLE DONATION IN THEIR TAXES!!!!!
i)
The artist may only deduct the actual amount of the
cost of materials (meaning we have to figure out how much every dab of paint
cost us)
ii) If
any one tells you otherwise they are either woefully ignorant or purposely
misleading (I am so grateful for my well informed tax accountant.)
OK so why am I now sitting here foolishly feeling sorry for
myself and debating…should I bitch and whine or take the high road and suffer
my silly emotions in silence or should I vent my frustration and publicly expose
this socially accepted practice in the name of charity as the exploitation of
artists it really is? My self pity is a
culmination of several small disregards for my efforts, any one of which like
water on a duck’s back I would have barely noticed. Unfortunately an accumulation has coalesced
into an uncomfortable lump in my craw…
The day of the auction, I was Facebook messaged asking if I
submitted my art and paperwork. I wrap
all artworks that I submit to a gallery.
You don’t want it to get scratched or dinged before it’s even hung on
the wall. So I replied describing the
protective packaging and they found the work.
But that should have been my first clue … no actually my first clue
should have been the email from the auction coordinator the day before asking
if I’d turned my work in yet; I’d turned it in on the due date several days
before and replied as much. Anyway when I
got to the event I looked for my work. And found it, nicely on the first wall
as you walk in…unfortunately it was behind the band’s speaker… They were nicely
hung together; too bad they had the wrong artist’s name on the bid sheet. Too bad they had no title listed. Too bad they had the media and substrate
wrong. Too bad there was no pen nearby
for interested collectors to write a bid on the bid sheet. Too bad… and this was the hardest slap to the
face of all… too bad they put a fair market value of $250 on it…
That’s a total of $250 for 3 original paintings; a triptych
is 3 paintings that hang together as one artwork. Twenty years ago a Christy's buyer valued one
of my single color woodcut prints at $175, yesterday a local gallery employee
put a fair market value of $250 total for three original paintings. Under valuing, one example of how charity
auctions devalue an artist’s work. Also
the final bids on most artworks in charity auctions is usually significantly
below fair market value; another way the artist’s work is devalued by charity
auctions. Do you understand why many
artist’s feel misused by charity auctions?
Last night I smiled, shook people’s hands and was honestly
pleased to make potential new friends and hug dear old friends; but inside I
was hurt and could barely restrain from removing the work from the wall and
taking it home. OK so now I've done my
whining and you know it’s been said that a person should not bitch unless they
can come up with a solution (that’s kind of defeatist isn't it – if you’re not
allowed to complain about a wrong without proposing a solution doesn't that
just perpetuate the wrong [may be someone else has better vision than I and my
complaint triggers their creative problem solving skills]). Any way I have a few ideas.
Keep in mind for it to work artists will have to stop donating
their work unless charities and auction coordinators agree to start respecting
our efforts. This means we will have to
ask for one or more of the following and if denied then we have decline. If they get turned down often enough charities
will eventually realize they’re cutting off their own feed. If we turn a charity down because of past
abuse we need to tell them why. And most
importantly we HAVE to educate our budding artists and convince them that it’s
in the best interest of their careers that they insist on full and proper
respect from auction coordinators. If we
don’t warn and educate them we leave them vulnerable and WE perpetuate the
abuse.
Some Ideas for Fair Art Donation Practices
1) Charities
and auction coordinators have to start respecting the artist’s efforts
a) Donating
artists aren't getting in free; they've already donated a work of art that will
bring in money (probably more than the price of admission) and they’ll be
working the event to get the highest bids for the charity. Give your artist a
comp ticket to the event so they can give it to a favored patron or companion
who can cover while the artist takes a break or works the room to compliment
her and talk up her colleagues work to admiring collectors. In the past my
artist friends and I did much toward increasing the bids for each others work
by bragging on each other; something the artist cannot do if she has to stand
by her work all night to answer bidder questions.
b) Ask
the artist for a minimum bid amount and market value of their work; do not
change these numbers on the bid sheets without the artist’s permission. If the two of you don’t agree then leave the
artist with the option to remove the work.
c) Do
offer a fair percentage of the sale to the artists. Most will offer to donate the full
amount. Some, especially the younger
less established artists, will appreciate the return of their material costs;
mediums, substrates, framing, hardware, transportation and other costs.
2) The
artist says, “I’m sorry I cannot donate my artwork but I’ll be happy to write a
check”
a) The
charity gets a donation from the artist albeit probably not as much as an
artwork would sell for.
b) The
artist gets a monetary tax deduction
c) The
artist informs the charity and auction coordinators why they can’t get artists
to donate artwork for their event. It’s
hard to have a charity art auction if you don’t have any artwork to auction; on
the other hand we artists have a responsibility to make charities aware that
they are abusing us.
3) Artists
who are asked to donate for an event exchange artworks with each other
a) The
artists exchange receipts marked paid in full with the payment amount being
what the trading artist would have asked for it in a studio sale.
b) The
recipient artist donates the trader’s artwork to the charity
c) Recipient
artists get to deduct the auction sale price.
4) Give
the artist a reasonable tax deduction.
a) A
charity gets payment for a work of art.
b) The
Charity pays the artist the amount of the sale minus an operating percentage (20-30%
is fair and covers their operating costs if any artist reneges on c below)
c) The
artist then writes a check to the charity for the amount the charity paid to them,
making the donation a monetary contribution that is fully tax deductible.
I once asked for number four to be done and was told by the
charity that it would be a bookkeeping nightmare… at the time I accepted this,
I was much younger and a whole lot more naive then. Today I realize that this is pure laziness on
the part of the charity and/or auction coordinators who don’t want to do a
little extra paperwork. Today I have but
one thing to say to this; Excuse me but
I just put 30 hours or more of my time into making this work of art, plus the
time and money in steps toward getting it professionally ready to exhibit
(Bases, packaging or framing and hardware) then add in time and gas/shipping to
deliver the artwork. And you want to
tell me it’s too much trouble for you to assure I get a fair tax deduction for
the full value of my donation! Hello is
this not an exploitative disregard for my loss of livelihood?
Now I knew of the disadvantages of the usual practices of such
events when I committed to my contribution.
I was well aware of and accepted that there would be a low starting bid;
that’s the best way to get that first bidder. I knew that the winning bid would probably be
well below what I could sell the work for; but probably be higher than I could
afford to give out of pocket to a cause I valued. In the past my artistic efforts were always
appreciated and I've donated to many charity events I care about. But this time I was near hidden in a corner,
unrecognized, significantly undervalued and hurt, its not just my ego that was
bruised but a setback in my reputation and career that I also have to
overcome. And most importantly it’s made
me most reluctant to ever contribute my artwork to these events. It just became cheaper and less painful to by
a ticket, eat drink and schmooze…which is something few artists do because most
of us hate these events; preferring to hang out with colleagues making art
than selling it. I guess another
solution is to do what many other artists do…continue to contribute but only
give away old unsold works that are taking up precious space in my studio
storage…huhmmm there are some very ancient early works under the bed collecting
dust…
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