Increasingly, art and artists are being used as financial tools for charity groups and organizations. Any art that is sold in aid of a charity or where sales benefit a charity can be considered ‘charity art’. Donated artwork is the medium of exchange for financial profit – a product that, by sale, usually at auction to the highest bidder, then becomes the method by which charities raise money for their causes.
Is this a legitimate use of art and the goodwill of artists? Or should we even be asking this question at all? Given the increasing reliance by charity groups on the donation of art works for purchase – usually by wealthy contributors to charitable funds (and usually at vastly reduced cost), it could be argued that this is one financial loophole that could surely be afforded to charity groups. After all, their purpose is to benefit society from their charity’s activities. So there is a greater good. But does this entire process undermine the value of the art? By ‘donating’ in return for an often, valuable work of art, are philanthropists shifting the onus from themselves to the usually struggling artist to make the financial sacrifice that is the basis of all charity?
A recent high profile art charity auction was organised in February this year in response to the Asian Tsunami. The Tsunami Aid Art Project was a worldwide charity event organized by artists of WetCanvas to raise funds for the victims of the tsunami. All sale proceeds were assigned to benefit the charity named by the individual donating artist.
Art For Charity has a similar ethos, allowing maximum input and control for donating artists as to the ultimate destination of their works. ‘Artists who have chosen to display their work on this site donate a portion of the proceeds from their art to charity. The artist can designate a specific charity or allow the buyer to select a charity from the list provided.’
Other successful examples of artists working collaboratively with charitable organizations for the benefit of specific causes include The Breast Cancer Fund and their Art Rage Us project and the 2002 Ontario Art Gallery auction to raise funds for the fight against AIDS.
Some UK organizations have established themselves in such a way as to ensure harmony between donating artists and the causes they seek to support. One of the best is Canvas, an organization that proclaims it ‘is set to radically change the way people can own and buy original art…whilst at the same time using this to the advantage of various charities around the country’.
Similarly, Belgravia Gallery is dedicated to raising funds for charity through the sale of lithographs and photographs, and maintains close connections between the donating artists and the cause to which their work is donated.
Other successful models combine works by professional artists with those done by the subjects of charitable activities, such as the 2005 Austin State Hospital Insights Art Show and Sale, which featured works of art by patients at the Austin State Hospital and by professional artists, all sold at auction to raise funds to improve the quality of life for patients at the hospital.
The fact remains, however, that, in the majority of high profile, high-end art charity events and auction, artists themselves rarely retain control over the cause their work is put to work for.
A tale of extreme caution is told by one very disillusioned artist. While recognising that ‘the rules are simple: the artist gives away a painting, gets invited to the show, and gets to hob nob with rich folks who possibly would buy more art later on down the road. In addition to all this, the proceeds from the sale goes to the aforementioned charity, everyone has a good time, and all is well, no?’, it seems the result was far from satisfactory for this particular artist. Indeed, the sad conclusion is reached that charity art auctions are seen largely as a way for the wealthy to buy art an unrealistically deflated prices, while still feeling good about their charitable instincts. One punter was heard to exclaim: ‘This is a great place to buy art cheap – I’m bringing my friends next year.’ Not exactly the most charitable attitude.
Other cautionary tales are directed at the other side of the equation, where well-intentioned buyers are cautioned to beware of art purchase prices at charity auctions that seem too good to be true. The warning is that art purchased at charity auctions can be uneven in quality.
And of course it can all go horribly wrong, as revealed in the essay, When a charity fund raiser auction goes bad. So much so that the concern becomes not the potential philanthropic success of such events, but instead, the potentially litigious result of a badly managed affair.
Indeed, a charity art auction might not be as simple an idea as it seems. And the greater good may become more problematic than first imagined. Charity is said to start at home, yet ensuring both the artists and the cause come out of the experience feeling nurtured, appreciated and valued might have very little to do with altruism.
