Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic
The death of the artist is inevitable, but artistic legacy can avoid a similar fate. So what happens with an artist’s works after death? Secondary market sales for artists can be an assurance that the artist’s creative output will live on well after the artist themself; yet, relatively few artists reach those secondary markets, leading to the potential loss of 20th and 21st century art. This fact does not escape artists dealing with these uncertainties and ambiguities.
Artists have options when determining where their art will go and how it will be distributed by their estate. While art transcends time and space, artistic legacy, estate management, and intellectual property are complicated and practical issues that artists should address in due time. The Center for Art Law is rolling up its sleeves and pooling together a taskforce of estate and legacy planning resources and professionals to guide artists and their heirs through this difficult process.
The Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic connects artists, estate administrators, attorneys, tax advisors, and other experts to create meaningful and lasting solutions for expanding the art canon and art legacy planning.
In addition to one-on-one pro bono consultations, the Clinic will offer primers on how to start assessing the physical and IP assets artists create throughout their lives and how their works and influence can have a lasting impact on their community, contemporaries, and generations of artists and viewers.
Selection of Past Events on Point
A Primer on Artist Trusts: Part 2
A Primer on Artists’ Trusts: Part 1
Legacy and Estate Planning for Artists (w/ Ralph E. Lerner)
Workshop: Finding a Home for your Art Archive (w/ Lisa Darms, Executive Director, Hauser & Wirth Institute)
Clinic
Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic (Dec. 2022)
Programming
To view or gain more information about our previous programming, please visit our Event Archives.
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January 31
2023
Setting the Record Straight: A Conversation with an Art Historian
About this event
What role does an art historian play in connection with an artist’s legacy? Scholars, curators, biographers, teachers – art historians like Gail Levin — dedicate their lives to unearth and preserve the biographical and artistic record disappearing in the haze of time. Whether an artist is a careful record keeper or not, what are the steps artists could have taken to have had their work seen and receive the appreciation that they deserve in their lifetime? Where would they be without art historians retracing and unearthing their steps and marks?
From icons such as Edward Hopper and his artist-wife Jo Hopper, to Theresa Bernstein, Lee Krasner and Judy Chicago, Levin has studied, lectured, recorded and recreated important stories and trajectories of artists’ lives and their works.
Enjoy our conversation with Gail Levin, Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York, who wears the hats of a biographer, an educator, a curator, a scholar and an advisor to artists and those are just to name a few! Dr. Levin discusses the various steps and processes that art historians take to help artists not become forgotten, preserve their work, have their work known to the public and protect their legacy. Dr. Levin is the author of the Edward Hopper catalogue raisonne and the biographer of Lee Krasner, (Krasner’s catalogue was created by yet another scholar). Having worked with Judy Chicago and many many others, Dr. Levin discusses how these and other artists tend to keep their records, plan for their legacy, and how her extensive work, including establishing the Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association, publishing countless articles and meticulous work on the Hopper’s catalogue raisonnes contributed and impacted artists’ legacy, and her own.
The workshop is designed for art historians and artists in mind, to illuminate the decision-making processes for art historians in choosing artists to study and guiding others on where to begin and what to do to assist artists looking to showcase and preserve their work in perpetuity.
About the Speaker:
Gail Levin is Distinguished Professor of art history, fine & performing arts, American studies, and women’s studies at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, of the City University of New York. The acknowledged authority on American realist painter Edward Hopper, she is author of books and articles on this artist, including the catalogue raisonné and Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography.
Her work on twentieth century and contemporary art has won international acclaim, been widely published, and translated in America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Articles range from theory of artists’ biographies to explorations of the intersection of American and Asian cultural studies. She has also written on the art of women artists in diverse historical contexts. Her frequent focus on women artists and Jewish artists, led to biographies of Judy Chicago and Lee Krasner and a major study of Theresa Bernstein. During 2015-16, Levin held a Distinguished Fulbright Chair in India and was a Fulbright Specialist in Mongolia in 2019. She also shows her own artwork and publishes fiction.
Handouts and Reading Material
Read the handouts HERE.
Recording of the Lecture
Watch the recording HERE.
12:00 pm EST
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March 30
2022
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May 16
2022
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June 16
2022
A Primer on Artists’ Trusts: Part 1
About the Event
The estate planning process can seem complicated with the number of options and buzzwords out there for securing a loved one’s legacy–wills, trusts, estates, foundations. With all this floating around, it’s difficult to know what the best choice is for your artist estate. Join the Center for Art Law, with Melissa Passman, Esq., Jamie Johnson Dutterer, and Minelli Manoukian, Esq. as we discuss the basics of artist trusts, the pros and cons, and the real life experience behind making the decision to create one.
This event was made possible with the collaboration of Julia Schwartz, Artist Legacy Foundation; Tracy Bartley, R.B. Kitaj Estate; Farley Gwazda, Gwazda Art Services; and contemporary art curator, writer and researcher Kristina Newhouse.
About Our Speakers
Melissa Passman advises U.S. and non-U.S. taxpayers on a range of tax and estate planning matters. She assists clients with tax and trusts and estates matters, including tax planning on corporate and partnership structures and transactions, implementing estate planning strategies, and planning around alternative assets. Melissa represents clients with federal and state tax matters, including international and domestic income and transfer tax planning for entities and individuals, as well as tax controversy.
Additionally, Melissa has extensive experience in art law matters and has been recognized for her counsel. She draws on her experience with a major international art gallery and other arts institutions to counsel collectors, advisors, galleries, tax-exempt organizations and family offices. Melissa advises these clients on matters around the acquisition, ownership and disposition of artwork, including on the formation of private museums and other charitable vehicles, as well as multijurisdictional tax planning. She also works with artists on developing robust legacy planning structures.
Melissa has additional experience with Portugal’s Golden Visa program and planning for U.S. taxpayers. She also advises on nonprofit activities including tax consequences of charitable donations and philanthropy, formation and management of 501(c)(3) private foundations, formation and compliance of foreign 501(c)(3) social welfare organizations, and review of gift agreements and structuring.
Jamie Johnson directs the William S. Dutterer Trust, which she created in 2018. Prior to that, she had managed Dutterer’s estate for 10 years. She and the Trust have made notable headway in achieving their goal of making Dutterer’s work available to the public at large.
Earlier, Jamie founded Art Connects New York, a not-for-profit organization that permanently placed original artwork in New York City’s social service agencies. She served three years on the Guggenheim Museum’s Education Committee, and worked extensively with artists on legacy planning.She also worked as a strategy consultant for small businesses and not-for-profit organizations. From 2001 to 2005 Jamie worked on the recovery of Afghanistan’s education system, focusing specifically on the education of girls and women.
Previously, Jamie worked in the corporate sector for some 30 years, culminating in over 10 years as a vice president of R. R. Donnelley and Sons Company where she led its Financial Printing Unit’s transition from analog to electronic products and services and was a key member of the unit’s business redesign.
Course Materials
Watch the Recording
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June 27
2022
Artist Legacy and Estate Planning (w/ Peter J. Caruso II)
About the Event
The Center for Art Law’s newly launched Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic had its second session with an evening of low-cost consultations with attorneys, tax experts, and other arts professionals with experience in estate and legacy planning.
The keynote address for this clinic was done by Peter J. Caruso II.
About Our Speaker
Peter J. Caruso II has been practicing in the area of Art Law for over 25 years. Having the benefit of a father as a lawyer (and partner in the firm) and a mother who is an accomplished and prolific artist, Peter has been able to marry together art and law into his everyday practice. Peter has practiced with Caruso
& Caruso, LLP since 1996, with a brief period practicing at a Boston law firm focusing on all intellectual property, media, and estate planning. Peter has represented local, national, and international artists, collectors, and galleries. He has represented a prominent Massachusetts Art Gallery in a much publicized deaccession battle over a two hundred-million-dollar collection. His clients include individual artists and collectors with priceless collections, His work with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts offered the opportunity to co-author the Massachusetts Art Law Consignment Statute, M.G.L. c. 104A. He is proud to have been twice awarded the Massachusetts Volunteer Layers for the
Arts Lawyer of the Year award. Peter lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts with his wife and three daughters who all have inherited a passion (and talent) for art.Watch the Recording
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July 7
2022
Workshop: Finding a Home for your Art Archive (w/ Lisa Darms, Executive Director, Hauser & Wirth Institute)
About the Event
For artists who have assembled an archive, or family members or friends who have inherited one (letters, notes, articles, photographs, etc), it can be overwhelming to try to figure out where to place these materials to ensure they are preserved and accessible in the future. This workshop considers how and where to look for a home for artists’ archive, including how archives are used for research and exhibition, whether to donate, sell or keep papers and all, and what to know when negotiating the terms of a gift or sale. The decision-making that goes into placing personal papers intersects with many areas, including appraisal and taxation concerns, technological challenges, and issues related to access and conservation.
Join the Center for Art Law and Lisa Darms, Executive Director at the nonprofit Hauser & Wirth Institute, for an event exploring the ‘behind the scenes’ on selecting and curating archives. Drawing in particular from her years as a curator of archival collections at New York University’s Fales Library and her previous work as an appraiser and dealer, Lisa will explore the importance of agreements; discuss issues of copyright, privacy and confidentiality, and talk about the ethical considerations inherent in placing archives. (Please note, this workshop deals with archival materials like correspondence, press materials, notebooks, digital work files, photographs etc., and not with collections of actual artworks).
Don’t miss this chance to hear from Lisa Darms as she discusses how to determine what is valuable in an artist’s personal archive and shares her experience as an archivist- curator.
This workshop is offered as part of the Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic, VALC.
About Our Speaker
Lisa Darms is Executive Director of Hauser & Wirth Institute, a nonprofit devoted to equity and innovation in the field of artists’ archives and to supporting the communities who use, create and care for art archives. She has spent over 15 years as an archivist and researcher working intimately with artists and their collections in nonprofit, academic and commercial settings. Lisa was Senior Archivist at NYU’s Fales Library from 2009 to 2016, where she managed the Downtown Collection of artists’ and art organizations’ archives and was curator of the Riot Grrrl Collection. She speaks and writes regularly about contemporary art and artists’ archives, and is the editor of The Riot Grrrl Collection (Feminist Press, 2013) and co-editor of Weight of the Earth: The Tape Journals of David Wojnarowicz (Semiotext(e), 2018). Lisa holds an MA in History and Archives, an MFA in Photography, and a Certificate in Appraisal Studies in Fine & Decorative Arts.
Course Materials
Watch the Recording
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November 21
2022
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December 5
2022
Volunteer Attorneys and Professionals
Private: Leslie Calero
Art Appraiser, Department
of Appraisals
Private: Christopher Wise
Risk and Insurance Management,
Risk Strategies
Private: Elizabeth Devolder
Founding Attorney, Elizabeth
Devolder Law Office
Private: Amanda Nelson
Principal, Atrium Amore
Private: Ashley Burke
Appraiser, Burke & Co.
Fine Art Consultants
Private: Galina Portnoy
CPA, TAG Associates
Private: Charles T Rosoff
Appraiser, ASA MRICS
Private: David J. Bright
Attorney, Associate Director, Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center
Private: Irina Tarsis
If you are interested in participating in the EPC, please write to clinic@itsartlaw.org
FAQs
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Who may register?
- We encourage participation by visual artists who wish to build and strengthen their case for employment-based visa applications over the next 6-12 months.
- The 1:1 consultations that occur at the Clinic are not suitable for artists with urgent immigration issues. However, all visual artists are welcome to attend and listen to the presentation.
- The Clinic best serves those artists which have no attorney and are seeking a first-time legal consultation. If you already attended a session of the Visual Artists’ Immigration Clinic, we encourage you to reach out to the attorney(s) you already met with (contact information is in the handouts distributed at the session).
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How do I register?
- Pre-registration is mandatory for a $10 fee.
- Registration takes place through Eventbrite, where you will need to fill out a confidential intake form.
- Choose your preferred session date; you do not need to attend all open sessions.
- Dial-in details and other instructions will be emailed once registration has been confirmed; be sure to check your emails in the days leading up to the Clinic.
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How do I prepare for the Clinic?
Make sure that you have the following documents on your computer:
- A passport showing your current visa;
- CV or resume;
- List of exhibitions and media publications about your work.
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What happens after the Clinic?
The Center for Art Law will be providing immigration law guides and the contact information of the Volunteer Attorneys participating in each session.
If you wish to pursue the conversation with the Volunteer Attorneys participating in the session, you should reach out to them directly!
If you have any further questions, please
Media Features
The East Hampton Star, Estate Planning for Artists,
Dec. 9, 2021