Collector Talk: Buying & Selling Art in the Twin Cities

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Much like the clothes you wear, the art in your home is a reflection of who you are.

Physical aspects of a piece like dimensions and colors may be the qualities that push us over the edge into “gotta have it” territory, but generally the buying experience is much more personal, intuitive and rooted in story.

Set amidst Jane Wunrow’s solo exhibition “Seeing Voices,” we invite you to join us for a panel discussion about collecting original artwork. Panelists Douglas Flanders, Herman Hiligan, Jade Patrick, Kristi Abbott and Marco Suemnick will drawn on their varied expertise in art consultancy and marketing, managing collections, and primary vs. secondary market sales to discuss how to go about collecting, getting your work placed into collections, and what characteristics make the Twin Cities unique compared to other prominent art markets.

We’ll share some pragmatic tips – like, how to learn about the artist and whether their asking price is a good value or not; understanding the materials and process used to make the work; buying within your budget – and also dive into the intrinsic impulses that lead us to collect original artwork and build meaningful collections over time.

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COLLECTOR TALK:
BUYING & SELLING ART IN THE TWIN CITIES
Thursday, February 22nd, 7-9pm // FREE
RSVP seating has sold out – Limited standing room available

A panel discussion featuring Douglas Flanders, Herman Milligan, Kristi Abbott, Jade Patrick and Marco Suemnik

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ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Douglas Flanders
The grandson of an art collector and an artist began collecting art in the summer of 1958.  While visiting his grandfather who lived on the Costa del Sol in Malaga, Spain he met Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali and several other Spanish artists acquiring works by each of them at the age of eight.  By the time he was in High School his collection had grown to 150 pieces.

His career as an art dealer began in 1966 at the age of 16.  In order to buy a piece of art he found it necessary to sell a piece.  He placed classified ADS in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, became friends with local gallerists Vern Carver and Elaine Lindberg and would consign work to them. For two years he worked for Denise Rene in New York a French Art dealer with galleries in Germany, Switzerland, London, Paris and New York.  He now has been in business for 45 years and has a collection of over 15,000 works and networks with dozens of galleries and private dealers worldwide.

Herman J. Milligan, Jr., Ph.D.
Dr. Milligan is currently a Managing Partner with The Fulton Group, LLC, an independent consultant firm specializing in marketing research, competitive intelligence, non-profit organizational development, and culturally-specific initiatives. He has over 35 years of arts curatorial experience. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and his B.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

At The Fulton Group, Milligan co-founded with Chris Berger, the REFINEDr curatorial platform Art4Good in 2014 as a means to support Twin Cities non-profit arts organization programming and artists. The platform also contains a website built ten years ago to highlight art fairs, galleries, and events occurring during Miami Art Week (popularly known as Art Basel Miami Beach) in the first week in December. In 2013 as an Advisory Board member for SOO Visual Arts Center, a Twin Cities-based non-profit visual arts organization, he created an exhibition concept, Collect Call, as a mechanism to introduce the community to the collector’s world and to promote dialogue around the practice. In 2014 he participated on the VOLTANY / VOLTA 10 Art Fair’s panel “On The Future of the Gallery”. In 2012 he curated An Evening of Jazz as part of the Katherine E. Nash Gallery – Regis Center for Art’s exhibition Minnesota Funk curated by Howard Oransky at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Milligan has also served on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board, Arts Midwest, and CEC Art Link (New York, NY). He is a photographer, writer, and musician.

Jade Patrick
Jade Patrick is an art curator and the founding Director of Gamut Gallery. Midwest born and raised, Jade graduated with a B.A. in economics from Hamline University and applies that knowledge to her entrepreneurial activities and project management. Since opening the gallery in 2012, she has led a team of volunteers to produce nearly 50 full scale exhibitions and many more creative events, showcasing the work of more than 400 visual artists and performers.  

Patrick is also a filmmaker and photographer

Kristi Abbott
From early childhood, Kristi has spent her life traveling between Sydney, Australia and Saint Paul, Minnesota.  She was seldom without a book, a Barbie doll and a set of coloring pencils.  She was fascinated by art, travel, culture, and making things with her hands from a very early age and chose to study art, theatre and design throughout school and university.  After a decade in the corporate arena and a graduate degree in Design and an Executive MBA she decided to leave the corporate life for one where she could pursue her true passion – to become a self sustaining artist.

As a collage artist Abbott is fascinated with the use of color, pattern and texture and tries to combine these elements in her work in an innovative and exciting way using a combination of substrates, adhesives, papers and embellishment materials.  Her technique is still evolving and employs an exploratory and playful process, which can incorporate costuming, set design and lighting, photography, graphic manipulation, image transferring, print making, collage and painting.

Marco C. Suemnick
Received his BA at College of Visual Arts in 2007 and later returned to St. Thomas to Receive his Masters in Marketing. Marco saw an opportunity to aid the Artist Community by being a support aid to Artists, Galleries and Art Collectors. Since starting his own Marketing Company 3 years ago he has developed a stronger sense of the community that he serves as well as become more resourceful with an array of tools and contacts available. His business is comprised mostly of Marketing and Consultations with Artists, Galleries and Art Collectors. His goal is to strengthen the Arts community by developing more fluid and accessible relations and communication through his practice. He continues to develop other creative types business as well as his own by using affordable solutions in Marketing, Branding, Advertising and PR.