Altruism - theory and practice
Social cohesion - theory and practice
Altruism and volunteering in France
The altruistic challenge for artists
From personal experience and discussions, I noted that most artists are altruistic and locally engaged, but struggle to combine this with their artistic ventures. This observation motivated me to search for a solution to this problem.
In general art is not a lucrative profession, so the potential for most artists to simply donate funds is somewhat limited. What most artists can and would like to do is contribute their time and artistic talent. However the donating of either artistic time or artwork is fraught with issues:
· Aid recipients typically do not need artworks – they need more basic goods and services
· There is the perception that art given away is not of value, and that this gifting may devalue the other works that the artist is trying to sell.
· Artworks are not divisible and so not easily shareable.
· A lot of art is fragile or not designed for the outdoors – it requires care from the new owners.
· Personal taste is important. Buyers self-select art that they like, but this may not be the case for an artist donating to a specific individual.
· Frames for paintings and prints can be expensive and the material costs for sculptures can be significant.
So it can be difficult, but it is certainly not impossible. The missing link appears to be a viable mechanism and/or framework to enable artists to cost-effectively create and donate artworks that are suitable for donation – avoiding the pitfalls and maximizing the unique added value that artists have to offer.
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