Collect Wisely

In this episode, we are speaking with Jon Gray, one of the cofounders of the Bronx based collective Ghetto Gastro. Founded in 2012, Ghetto Gastro is a cooking advocacy collective that ignites conversations about race, class, and inclusion via the medium of food. The collective is committed to feeding, inspiring, and growing young entrepreneurs in the Bronx.

In this episode, we are speaking with Dan Sallick. Dan is a founding partner of Subject Matter, a creative advocacy firm based in Washington, D.C. He is the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

In this episode, we are speaking with Erling Kagge. Based in Oslo, Norway, Erling is a lawyer, publisher, writer, and explorer and has been an art collector for over 30 years. He is the first person to ever surmount the Three Poles; the North Pole, the South Pole, and the Summit of Mount Everest. His collection champions young emerging artists, focusing on individuals who are just starting out. In 2015, he published, “A Poor Collector’s Guide to Buying Great Art” to show how limitations can make for very interesting collections. His most recent publications are Silence: In the Age of Noise and Walking.

In the nineteenth episode of Collect Wisely we are speaking with Leo Shih. Leo's collection originates in the 1990s and ranges from first-generation Chinese oil painters to contemporary work, with a focus on Chinese and Taiwanese artists.

In the eighteenth episode of Collect Wisely, we are speaking with Alain Servais. Based in Belgium The Servais Family Collection features several hundred works from international artists working in a variety of mediums with one notable distinction, there are no paintings. The collection is housed in a converted factory in Belgium, called the Loft.

In the seventeenth episode of Collect Wisely, we are speaking with Tiqui Atencio. Based in London, New York, and Monaco, Tiqui is a passionate collector in pre-Columbian, Latin American and Contemporary Art. She founded and chairs the Tate’s Latin American Acquisitions Committee and is chairwoman of the Guggenheim Museum’s International Director’s Council. Her collection of mostly contemporary art includes over 500 works ranging from painting, photography, film and sculpture. In her recent book, “Could Have, Would Have, Should Have” she interviewed many of the world’s top collectors, but today we are here to discuss her collection.

In the sixteenth episode of Collect Wisely, we are speaking with Robert Tsao, one of the world’s leading collectors of Chinese art and antiquities, his collection ranges from Neolithic jades and porcelain to contemporary art. Tsao sits on the board of trustees of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum Foundation and has an extraordinary collection in the heart of Taipei, which is where the podcast was recorded.  

While in Taiwan for the Taipei Dangdai art fair we spoke with renowned collector and philanthropist Budi Tek, who has dedicated his collection of contemporary art to the rest of the world. Budi began collecting in 2004 and went on to build the Yuz Collection, which consists of contemporary art from the East and West, with a significant focus on Chinese contemporary art from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. In 2014, Budi founded the Yuz Museum in Shanghai under the umbrella of the Yuz Foundation. The museum has staged ambitious exhibitions of international Contemporary artists including Yang Fudong, Huang Yuxing, Liu Shiyuan, Random International, Andy Warhol, and Alberto Giacometti. This past year Budi announced a partnership between the Yuz Museum and LACMA, furthering his aim to expand international contemporary art through the exchange of ideas, collections, sponsorships, and academic projects.

In the 13th episode of Collect Wisely we are speaking with Pamela Joyner. Based in San Francisco, Pamela and her husband Fred Giuffrida’s collection consists of over 400 works, with a primary focus on abstract works by artists of the African diaspora from the 1940’s onward.  The collection is widely recognized as one of the most significant collections of modern and contemporary art by African American artists. In September 2017, Pamela and Fred published a scholarly catalogue of the collection titled, “Four Generations: The Joyner Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art.” Following the publication, select works from the exhibition have been included in an extensive exhibition, which opened at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, in New Orleans and has toured to several US museums.

In the twelfth episode of Collect Wisely we are speaking with Howard Rachofsky from Dallas. A life-long Texan, Howard along with his wife Cindy, has played a profound role in catapulting Dallas into a leading center for the collection and presentation of international contemporary art. The Rachofsky Collection has great depth in Post-War art, with particular strength in American and European Minimalism, Italian Arte Povera and Japanese Gutai, of which they’ve assembled the most extensive collection in the United States. Through their various philanthropic endeavors, the Rachofsky’s have transformed the arts in Dallas. In addition to serving on the Boards of many cultural institutions, Cindy and Howard have pledged their collections in entirety to the Dallas Museum of Art.

Coinciding with our participation in Zona Maco, this episode of Collect Wisely is a conversation with Pablo Sepúlveda, who is based in Mexico City. Pablo is a founding partner of the architecture firm Legorreta Sepúlveda Arquitectos. His collection includes works on paper, photography and sculpture.

In the tenth episode of Collect Wisely we are speaking with Tiffany Zabludowicz. Born in London and now based in New York City, Tiffany was introduced to art at a young age, two years after she was born her parents founded the Zabludowiz Collection. Tiffany runs and curates the Times Square Space, which hosts exhibitions within the rotating empty offices of 1500 Broadway in the heart of Times Square. She is chairwoman of the Young Collectors Council at the Guggenheim and a founding member of the New Museum’s Artemis Council. She has a particular interest in emerging and “post-internet” art. Her personal collection features work by artists such as, Tracy Emin, Item Idem, Josephine Meckseper, Joel Holmberg, Puppies Puppies, and Artie Vierkant.

In this episode of the Collect Wisely podcast, we spoke with Manuel de Santaren. Based in Boston, Manuel’s collection focuses on video art, photography and performance, and time-based works, with a particular focus on emerging artists. Manuel has been President of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation in Miami since 2017. He also co-chairs the Guggenheim Museum’s Photography Council and is on the advisory boards of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

Jill and Peter are active participants on the boards at a number of institutions; Jill is Chairman of the Board at the Public Art Fund, and a board member at the New Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Peter chairs the Board of Overseers at CalArts and is a emeritus Trustee at Lincoln Center, where he chaired the public art program. The couple have gifted works from their collection to museums and institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

In June we spoke with sisters Monique and Myriam Vanneschi while in Basel for the 49th edition of Art Basel. The sisters, who are based in The Netherlands, discussed their varied interests and the dynamics of collecting individually and together for their family collection.

Today we are speaking with Ron Pizzuti. Ron is based in Columbus, Ohio he and his wife Ann’s collection reflects their passion for contemporary art and has been amassed over the past 40 years. Ron serves on the board of trustees for the Wexner Center Foundation and is an honorary trustee of the Columbus Museum of Art. Ron and Ann’s collection of over 2,400 works is installed in their homes in Columbus, Ohio, Florida and New York City. In addition, their non-profit organization, The Pizzuti Collection, in Columbus, features a rotating schedule of exhibitions from the family collection ranging from painting and sculpture to film and photography. Promoting community involvement and open to the public, the organization is dedicated to fostering education and diversity through its programming.

In this episode we have with us, Rodney Miller. Based in New York City, Rodney’s collection of contemporary art reflects his interest modern and contemporary African American and African art of the diaspora. Rodney serves on the board of trustees at The Studio Museum Harlem and is on the board of the University of Indiana’s business school. His collection of over 200 works features examples by artists such as Beauford Delaney, Romare Bearden, Alma Thomas, and Hale Woodruff alongside contemporary artists including Shinique Smith, Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn Ligon, Odili Donald Odita and Hank Willis Thomas.

In this episode of Collect Wisely, we spoke with Paul Marks live from Frieze New York. Paul has served on the Contemporary Curatorial Committee and acquisitions at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Board of Directors for the Art Gallery of York University, the Power Plant, and the MOCCA Collections Committee.

In this episode, we spoke with Marieluise Hessel Artzt. Her wide-ranging collection of over 2,000 works, featuring international artists, is housed at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York, which she cofounded in 1992.

The second episode of Collect Wisely was recorded live at Frieze New York, May 2, 2018. Greg Miller is the President of the Board of Directors at White Columns, an art book publisher and a prolific art collector.