Why to Buy Art?

In this climate of economic uncertainty, everyone is challenged to balance out their priorities. A luxury item like original fine art can easily be something that slips through the cracks in a tightening household budget. Reproductions, photographs, even large and inexpensive quickly-spun renditions might be more tempting than the substantial investment toward becoming a collector of an artist you may have watched season and mature over the years. When the economy goes stale, the artists are like the canary in the coal mine, they're the first ones that feel it. Home ownership isn't the sure investment it once was, and the illusion of personal wealth no longer bolsters the courage to start an ambitious collection of orginal artwork.

However, four years after the big financial collapse, most of the artists you've been following are still here. Much of this comes from artists' ability to think outside the box, and diversify their activities to augment what was once a simple formula to create it and sell it.

However, the answer may more importantly lie in how the public has also evolved through these past few years. People that buy artwork do so because they value themselves, and their own lives. Just like travel experiences, the notion that you can't take it with you winds up being the very reason to become more than you've ever been, by living and experiencing a range of perspectives. We see ourselves as more important when we gain a greater scope of reference, and this is the same personal investment that buying art can represent. The person that purchases art is saying they love their home, and they love their own life, and they value surrounding themselves with meaning and content.

The notion of art being a financial investment is barely considered, as people value their own personal investment as more valid and meaningful. Artists by nature are tempered by the challenges of what they do, and now more than ever, the public's support and recognition of their efforts becomes part of what great things the artists themselves can become. Together, everybody raises the bar on what we demand from these times, from ourselves, and from each other. These are magical times.