Considerations for White Art Collectors

I’ve had a lot of really interesting conversations with both collectors and artists recently about race and diversity in an art collection for white collectors. I wanted to share a few thoughts here.

Curating a diverse art collection comes with both opportunities and responsibilities. Approaching the journey of becoming an art collector should be done with cultural awareness and context. This is not just to be “woke”, but to create a more dynamic tapestry and understanding of the works you are collecting, and the implications within.

I am not explicitly an advocate for racial diversity in your art collection. It really depends on your intended impact. Collecting work from a Black artist simply because they are a Black artist feels transactional, and like ticking a box. Generally speaking, I find collections that feature a huge range of subject matter, tone, medium and artist background to be very fascinating. But I also know collectors who are singular in their pursuit, and think that is completely fine. The task is really to identify a meaningful impact statement at the outset of collecting, and align your acquisitions accordingly.

That being said, I know a lot of black art collectors who prefer to exclusively purchase work from black artists. I get this. I think it can be meaningful to support folks of a shared background, and make a conscious decision to do so. Same goes with gender and supporting women artists. It’s important to put additional weight on folks whose identities have generally been completely ignored in art up until alarmingly recently.

I do think diversifying who you collect from is generally important, and I am generally in favor. I think art has the power to widen our world-view and to shift our understanding of the world, and art from diverse sources (not just in terms of identity but perspective too) can be hugely transformative. But there are some considerations to keep in mind when building a diverse art collection. So, whatever your cultural heritage is, but especially if you’re white:

1. Intentional Curation

Be intentional about the narratives and stories your collection tells. To me, your pieces should always meaningfully connect back to your life. Strive for representation from artists that goes beyond surface-level diversity. You should connect with the piece from a genuine place, and not as a platitude.

This also means you should put the work into cultural context, understand the lens through which you view it, and recognize any potential power dynamics. To do this, I often try to understand the artist’s story, the statement about the piece, their inspirations, and how you relate, or do not, to all of those aspects.

I always recommend collectors connect directly with the artist, and this is a part of why I encourage collecting from living artists. Forming this type of almost collaborative approach can help get clarity on your connection to the work of art, and to the artist, and deepen your connection to the works.

2. Supporting Inclusive Initiatives

Very often art collecting goes beyond the actual acquisition of pieces. You’ll begin to participate in many ways in the art world. If it becomes a passion for you, you’ll attend events, exhibitions, and auctions that champion diversity and equitable representation. This is important. There are very real power dynamics at play in the art world, just like in the rest of society, that have oppressed and limited opportunities for BIPOC, women, and LGBTQI identifying artists.

To me, one of the reasons we seek out art is to gain an understanding of the complex, nuanced, layered, multi-faceted experience of what it is to be a human alive today. That very simply cannot be done without a huge array of voices and perspectives participating in the shaping of our culture and our world. Supporting the institutions that are working hard to shift power dynamics can be a meaningful action as a collector.

3. Be in dynamic relationship with art

A part of any good interpretation of a work of art includes understanding your own background, story and experiences and how they form the lens through which you view a work. This requires you as a viewer and collector to continually assess your positioning. Which audience do you presume is centered in a work of art, and how could your experience shift that presumption? Reflect on what your experiences are and how they differ from the artist’s in order to open to all possible interpretations and contextual understandings of a work of art. As you learn from the artists you connect with, or from researching an artist’s body of work, topics of research and background, continually reflect on your own lens, your proximity to power, and the information you’ve gleaned in research.

I like to give the example of extremes in interpreting a work of art. I find often people are afraid of interpreting incorrectly. Let’s say you’re a white collector, looking at an abstract piece of neon blues and reds. It brings to mind a semester abroad in Barcelona, and the vibrant night life there, wet streets and bar lights. It’s youthful, frivolous, high energy and joyful to you due to your associations, experiences, perspective. You then do research on the work and the artist and find it was made during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, and is in fact about police brutality. Two extremes. Instead of saying you’re “bad” at interpretation or ignorant, or anything along those lines, consider marrying the two perspectives, and allowing your two perspectives to create a more dynamic understanding of a work of art.

That it is about the multiplicity of experiences. That you can be joyful and grieving, that youth and heartache can coincide. That play and carefreeness can be simultaneous to tragedy and violence. That we live in a world that is both beautiful and painful every moment, and to be fully human is to hold both.

Beyond interpretations…

To be in dynamic relationship with art is to continually expose yourself to new works, from new artists. It is to approach collecting with a curios mindset, discovering stories and histories as you go. It’s to constantly contextualize the work against history, and your own understanding and experience.

To be in this relationship go visit art spaces that prioritize diverse and underrepresented perspectives. This may even mean they are not meant for you. Learn from them. Ask questions, engage with the artists, the gallery owners, the narratives presented to you, and your own filter. Be aware of power dynamics. Be aware of the implications of representation. And be authentic.

I always encourage coming back to your impact statement. What do you hope your collection will do (for you, for your family, community, for the world?). When you are diversifying your collection, to ensure you’re not collecting to tick some identity box, find the authentic connection and intention.

By being mindful of the implications of being a white collector, you can contribute to a more inclusive and diverse art world. Remember, the goal is not just to have a diverse collection but to actively engage with and uplift underrepresented voices in the art world.

See part two for more.