WAA+A assists private, corporate, and institutional clients with confidential, unbiased guidance on buying and selling fine art in the global art market. We represent individuals, families, trusts, foundations, and others in providing a wide range of art-related services. We are the only firm in the Southeast that focuses on helping private collectors prepare artwork for asset growth, future heirs, or acquisition by public collections. For both new and established collectors, we help curate, protect, and build legacies.
Many collectors do not plan for the future of their valuable assets or consider how a privately held collection would strengthen one or more public collections. We have the expertise needed to help clients navigate the expansive museum landscape, identify future repositories and work in partnership with curators to make strategic acquisitions, plus prepare interpretive materials designed to increase public appreciation of a collection.
Whether making a first purchase or developing and refining a collection, we develop personalized strategies to guide each client in defining, identifying, and sourcing appropriate works (directly from artists or through galleries and auction houses). We work with interior designers and architects to make appropriate selections for residential and commercial locations. In order to provide independent and unbiased appraisals and to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, WAA+A does not buy, sell or broker the works of art that it appraises. This ensures that we can provide clients with the objective information and advice needed to avoid paying too much or too little for a piece of fine art, and also aid in identifying the best and most appropriate marketplace in which to transact.
Whether it’s a small inherited etching or a large collection cultivated over a lifetime, we can help document, organize, and archive your artwork. Services include preparing inventory databases, color-corrected photography, initial and/or routine condition inspections and reports, recommendations on and oversight of conservation needs, plus facilitating framing, shipping, and installation requirements. In the event of uncertain authenticity, we coordinate the authenticity process or make recommendations. Collection management services may also include advice on selecting works to be included in a collection, appraising individual works of art, plus direction on storing and displaying artworks.
Beyond core collection management services, we assist clients with strategic planning and market consultation essential to growing collections and protecting the value of fine art assets in perpetuity. We’ll help in building and re-structuring your collection through acquisition and de-accessioning to achieve a focused and well-managed collection – one that reflects your interests, aligns with your budget, and achieves your long-term goals. From acquisition to estate planning, we provide customized services that facilitate the process of buying, installing, cataloguing, and protecting your artwork.
Complementing collection management, we provide all services related to the research and development of collection catalogue publications that document the history of a collection and its collectors, offer relevant scholarship, and high-quality image plates. Developing the information needed to interpret a collection for the public significantly increases its value to future generations, the global marketplace, or museums, universities, and other public repositories. When needed, we coordinate loans and donations to charitable organizations.
Building public collections that are relevant and reflective of our shared heritage is essential for communities to thrive through inquiry, expression, awareness, and innovation. When collectors work in partnership with museums, extraordinary community shared assets can be cultivated to strengthen communities and benefit future generations.
Principal Susan Welsh’s professional work leading multidisciplinary institutions across several nonprofit sectors and her passion for the transformational power of the cultural arts equip WAA+A to unite collectors with a range of collecting institutions from museums and science centers to universities and health systems. From building public contemporary art collections to curating hundreds of exhibitions, she has cultivated an extensive network of colleagues – and familiarity with both emerging artistic talents and collection priorities of institutions across the Southeast. We’ve worked with thousands of artists, artist estates, museums, and donors and are able to offer specialized advisory services for philanthropic collectors wishing to strengthen our country’s public collections.
Website by Elizabeth Schorr & Co.
