Museum
educates aspiring art collectors
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
A
panel of art collectors, gallery owners
and curators gathered for a day long symposium
at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long
Beach on Saturday, offering expert advice
to amateur buyers, collectors and admirers
of Latin American art work.
The event was $100 for patrons and $25 for
students, individuals with strong interests
in the work of artist from Mexico, Argentina,
Venezuela and other Latin American countries
attended the Third International Symposium
at the museum. This year’s theme was
“Collecting and Evaluating Latin American
Art.”
“Collecting is a passion, and in a way the
art collector is an artist also, creating
order and stability of his own collection,”
said Gregorio Luke, the museum director.
“We hope to awaken those that haven’t had
the passion of collecting.”
The panelists discussed issues of importance
to people of the Latin American art community,
including the marketability, financial benefit
and role of Latin American art in the United
States and all over the world.
Graciela Cervantes, the director of Galeria
Quetzalli in Oaxaca, Mexico spoke of the
impact legendary Mexican artists like Rufino
Tamayo and Fernando Tolero had on Latin
American art as a whole.
Former president of the International Association
of Art Critics, Belgica Rodriguez suggested
that the most interesting art fairs are
held in Miami.
“Miami is the capitol of Latin America,”
Rodriguez commented.
Hector Ziperovich, founder and president
of Latinart.com, a website dedicated to
bilingual art education, advised the public
to “find a good dealer or adviser, someone
you trust and someone that trusts you” when
purchasing art over the internet.
“Don’t buy online until you talk to the
galleries,” Ziperovich said.
The panel of experts agreed that the best
thing that art collectors can do to decrease
their chances of purchasing worthless or
stolen pieces of art was by thoroughly inspecting
the work themselves, and making sure it
is legitimately certified.
Maria Garcia, a second grade elementary
school teacher from Long Beach attended
the event to get the different views and
advice of the panelists on collecting art
work.
“This is an eye opener for me to find out
the different ways that you can buy your
art,” Garcia said.
Although not an artist, Garcia said she
shows her students pictures of famous Latin
American paintings to try to get them to
think about how it makes them feel and to
form their own opinions of it.
“I like the idea of becoming a collector,
but of course right now, I do not have the
means. But I do buy very inexpensive things
that I like when I go to art galleries and
shops,” she said.
Louis Stern, a panelist who is the director
of his own fine art gallery advised the
public “to go with what they are interested
in.”
“People truly collect and acquire what they
really want,” Stern said. His advice was
echoed by other panelists throughout the
symposium.
Bell Gardens resident, Mario Sibaja, who
also attended the event to obtain information,
said he started reading books, going to
museums and galleries that showcased Latin
American art and artists, and he was interested
in what was presented by the panelists.
The symposium concluded with a round table
discussion, where all of the panelists and
attendees shared their thoughts and opinions
on Latin American art, and exchanged dialogue.
Susan Golden, the museum’s director of public
relations was excited to have the panelists
interacting with the public on a one-on-one
basis.
“It is nice to be able to gather all of
these people in one spot,” Golden said.
The symposium, which included a lunch and
cocktail reception, was made possible in
part by generous donations of different
art foundations and businesses.
The museum will continue to hold events
and exhibits dedicated exclusively to Latin
American art and artists around the world.
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