Joan Mitchell Foundation Report Exposes Inequities in Artist Legacy Stewardship
On September 15, the Joan Mitchell Foundation unveiled "Creating Future Memory," an 80-page report that investigates the inequities and educational disparities influencing which artists are commemorated and in what manner. This publication features insights from 145 individuals, including artists, family members, curators, and arts professionals. It pinpoints three key challenges faced by those managing artist legacies: access to information, funding, and collaboration. Co-authored by Solana Chehtman, the Foundation's Director of Artist Programs, and Sharon Mizota, an art writer for Hyperallergic, the report builds on the Foundation's Creative a Living Legacy (CALL) initiative, launched in 2007. Mikiko Ino, president of KinoSaito, shared her late husband Kikuo Saito's belief that "two deaths" occur, emphasizing the importance of remembrance. The findings highlight ongoing inequalities in legacy planning within the art sector.
Key facts
- The Joan Mitchell Foundation published the 80-page report "Creating Future Memory" on September 15.
- 145 artists, family members, curators, and arts and legacy workers contributed to the report.
- The report identifies three primary challenges: access to knowledge, funding and resources, and coordination and collaboration.
- Solana Chehtman, Director of Artist Programs at the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and Sharon Mizota, an art writer and DEI metadata consultant, co-authored the report.
- The research expands on the Foundation's Creative a Living Legacy (CALL) program, which dates back to 2007.
- Chehtman describes artist legacy planning systems as "deeply underdeveloped, underfunded, and oftentimes completely inaccessible to artists [and professionals] working outside the mainstream."
- Mikiko Ino is president and director of the New York nonprofit KinoSaito and was married to the late abstract painter Kikuo Saito, a co-founder of the organization.
- Ino recalled Kikuo Saito's saying: "there are two deaths: the first is physical, and the second is when nobody talks about you."
Entities
Artists
- Mikiko Ino
- Kikuo Saito
- Solana Chehtman
- Sharon Mizota
- Joan Mitchell
Institutions
- Joan Mitchell Foundation
- KinoSaito
- Hyperallergic
Locations
- New York
- United States