Official Panel Discussions
Photography by Stephon Williams
Atlanta Art Week Event:
Atlanta Art Week Official Panel Discussions
Saturday, October 7, 2023 | 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
1280 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
The Woodruff Arts Center at the High Museum of Art, Hill Auditorium
About the Panels:
Presented by The Fine Art Group and Aon Private Risk Management.
11:00 AM - Trends and Forecasting: State of the Current Art Market and Outlook for Emerging Collectors in the Southeast
Since 2020, the art market has experienced unprecedented growth and record-breaking prices; this panel discussion will explore the state-of-the-art market post-COVID-19 and the impact of emerging/new-gen buyers on how fine art and passion assets are bought and sold in the 21st century.
Bridgette Baldo, Hascy Alford Cross, & Anwarii Musa | Moderator: Shane Hall
12:15 PM - Leverage and Mitigation: protecting valuable assets while increasing liquidity through art-secured loans.
Art-secured loans enable collectors to unlock capital from an asset class into which they have dedicated extensive time, effort, and passion. This panel discussion will examine the nuances of leveraging an art collection and the risk mitigation implementations and best practices to protect these assets, both physically and financially, while collateralized.
Jason Carey, Rachel Kittleman, & Jan Prasens | Moderator: Blythe Hogan
1:30 PM - Sustaining Practice: Artists Working and Living
How can artistic practice be sustained? This panel will consider how artists engage critical elements of the art world’s ecosystem—art making and production, support structures, writing and critique, and art institutions—both in Atlanta and beyond. This program is co-presented by the High Museum of Art.
Erin Jane Nelson, TK Smith, & Andrew Westover
2:45 PM - Decoding the Art Industry: Navigating Shifts and Evolution
This panel addresses the life cycle of an artist and the dynamics of the art industry, covering aspects such as art production management, interactions with galleries and dealers, and integration into private art collections.
Julie Baumgardner, Shelli Beermann, & Charlotte Newman
About The Speakers:
Bridgette Baldo, Director of UTA Artist Space Atlanta
Bridgette Baldo is the Director of UTA Artist Space Atlanta. Baldo oversees programming for the gallery, helps organize & curate exhibitions, and connects artists to opportunities tied to the wider cultural sector of the city. Since joining UTA, Baldo has helped organize over 40 exhibitions, both live and digital, and has developed bespoke solutions to bring artists’ and curators’ ambitious visions to life. Alongside her team, Baldo has curated four pop-up exhibitions in Atlanta, including Mario Joyce: A Stranger’s House That Is Our Own. Baldo will oversee UTA Artist Space Atlanta’s permanent gallery, which launches in 2023. Baldo joined UTA in 2017 as an Agent Trainee and moved to the Fine Arts division shortly after. Baldo worked alongside Zuzanna Ciolek, Director of UTA Artist Space Los Angeles, handling the day-to-day operations of the gallery. Baldo is originally from Sacramento, CA, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film & Digital Media from University of California, Santa Cruz, where she also studied History of Art and Visual Culture.'
Julie Baumgardner, Arts and Culture Writer
Julie Baumgardner is an arts and culture writer, editor and journalist who's spent nearly 15 years covering all aspects of art, design and travel. Julie's work has been published in Bloomberg, Cultured, Financial Times, New York Magazine, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wallpaper and many other publications. She has also been interviewed for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Miami Herald, Observer, Vox, USA Today, as well as worked on publications with Rizzoli press and spoken at art fairs and conferences in the US, Middle East and Asia.
Shelli Beermann, Principal and Founder, Beermann Art Advisory
Principal of Beermann Art Advisory, Shelli Beermann, has fifteen years of diverse art market experience behind her current role of Advisor and Artist Manager. In addition to working as a gallery manager and a fine art insurance broker, Shelli is an accredited art appraiser and active member of the American Society of Appraisers. As an Artist Manager, Shelli oversees the careers of working visual artists, managing everything from day-to-day operational tasks to high-level marketing and long-term strategy. Armed with continual research and a vast network of industry contacts, Shelli is well prepared to assist her clients in navigating rapidly changing factors specific to today’s art world and is a hands-on advocate as well as a strategic business advisor through each stage of an artist’s career. She graduated from the University of Miami with a double major in Finance and Marketing and a minor in Art History and has a Master of Arts in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute, New York. She is a member of The Georgia Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and current Vice President of the Appraisers Association of Georgia.
Jason Carey, Senior Vice President and Art Advisor, Art Advisory & Finance, Citi Private Bank
Jason Carey is an Art Advisor with Citi Private Bank Art Advisory & Finance. Specializing in 19th and 20th Century European art, he brings over 15 years of experience from the auction world, most recently as International Director and Head of Impressionist and Modern Art out of Christie’s in London. Jason has lectured on art market topics in Europe and Asia and was responsible for spearheading and promoting some of the first international auctions of 20th-century Western and Asian Contemporary Art out of Shanghai. Having partnered closely with public collections around the world on artwork loans and exhibition planning, Jason brings a wealth of experience advising clients on building and caring for museum-quality collections. Jason holds a degree in Economics with a minor in Art History from Macalester College.
Hascy Alford Cross, Senior Specialist, Impressionist & Modern Art, Bonhams
Hascy Alford Cross began her art career in the Impressionist & Modern Art department and then the Estates & Appraisals department at Christie’s New York, 2004 - 2007. She then held the titles of Gallery Manager, Exhibition Coordinator, and Sales Associate at private dealership Eykyn Maclean in New York from 2007 to 2015, followed by seven years as Director of James Barron Art in South Kent, CT. Hascy received her BA with honors from Trinity College, where she also interned at the Wadsworth Atheneum.
Shane Hall, Director, High Profile Client Division, The Fine Art Group
Shane David Hall represents The Fine Art Group as Director of their High-Profile Client Division, where he serves as the firm’s primary point of contact for celebrity entertainers, musicians, and professional athletes as well as their support teams, including business managers, wealth managers, accountants, attorneys, and family offices. Shane holds over 15 years of extensive art market experience and 7 years of appraisal and advisory experience dedicated to managing investment-quality collectible assets for sports and entertainment industry personalities. Shane holds deep knowledge of the global art market and has lectured at the annual Trusted Advisor Summit, the North Carolina conference for Certified Financial Advisors, as well as various collector groups nationally. Shane has also valued art and collectibles for Fortune 500 corporations, museums, and private collectors worldwide. Shane earned Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Historic Preservation and Art History from the College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) and later received a Master of Arts in American Fine and Decorative Arts from Sotheby’s Institute of Art (New York, NY).
Blythe Hogan, Vice President, Director of the Art & Collections Practice and Associate Director of the National Specialty Practice, Aon Private Risk Management
Blythe is the Director of the Art & Collections Practice (ACP), a dedicated team within Aon Private Risk Management, specializing in the broking and risk management of valuable article collections for private clients. Blythe leads her team in negotiating bespoke collections coverage and providing risk advisement for private collectors. She is a specialist in risk mitigation for valuable items; she conducts comprehensive exposure analysis for large collections, including natural disaster mitigation plans and art in transit and storage, as well as provides claims servicing and advocacy. Blythe and her team work directly with their own clients and also serve as a resource and advisor for their colleagues both within Private Risk and broader Aon. She pioneered the ACP’s vendor vetting program, the criteria and process by which third-party firms in the art industry are evaluated and approved for referrals to clients and colleagues, and the implementation of tailored mitigation plans for collections based on the specific loss exposure profile. Blythe has over 15 years of experience in the art and collections risk and insurance industry, has a Masters in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, and received a Certified Advisor of Personal Insurance (CAPI) designation from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Rachel Kittleman, Senior Business Development Executive, Crozier Fine Arts
Rachel Kittleman leads business development and strategy for Crozier Fine Arts, a leading art logistics and storage firm. She has been in the art professional industry for over 13 years, specializing in art logistics and art asset protection and management. Current Business Development Executive for Crozier Fine Arts. Rachel works with private clients, arts institutions, family offices, wealth management firms, law firms, the insurance industry, and allied professionals to provide solutions for all art logistics and storage needs. Prior to Crozier, she was Director of Winston Art Group's Southeast region, cultivating appraisal, advisory, and collection management business; she was also Gallery Director of DTR Modern Galleries in Washington, DC, working with emerging, mid-career, and blue chip artists. Rachel earned a degree in History of Art and Architecture at Boston University and holds a Graduate Certificate in Art Business from Christie’s Education.
Anwarii Musa
Anwarii Musa is a Curator, Advisor, and founder of ArtMatic Advisory and sits on the Queens Museum board of trustees. With his exceptional and diverse skills in the arts, he brings over a decade's worth of experience in the contemporary art market in advising private collections and acquisitions from across the country. Musa was introduced to the art industry by first interning as an Art Handler at Sotheby's in 2008. His ambition, drive to learn, and hard work landed him a full-time position, and for the next 5 years, he worked in the contemporary department. The experience and knowledge he retained from Sotheby's continue to follow him to this day. In 2014, Anwarii started his own advisory company ArtMatic as a private Art consultant. His practice includes advising clients on acquisitions and sale of works for their collecting, estate planning and execution, Collection Management, and public relations. Since then, he has worked directly with world-renowned artists, collectors, dealers, and Museums in building a vast and trusted network.
Erin Jane Nelson, Artist
Erin Jane Nelson (b. 1989) is an artist and writer who lives and works in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Nelson’s interdisciplinary artistic practice—spanning photography, ceramics, and textiles—engages conceptual frameworks and contemporary vulnerabilities with hybridity and incisive humor. In addition to her own practice, she works in support of other artists, particularly in the South, and in service of a decentralized, mutualistic art world. From 2018-2021, Nelson served as Director of Burnaway, a magazine of contemporary art and criticism from the U.S. South. Nelson’s work has recently been exhibited in Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019 and Between the Waters at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the 2021 New Museum Triennial. She has had solo shows at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center; Chapter NY; and DOCUMENT, Chicago. Nelson is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, 2021 MOCA GA Working Artist Project Fellow, and 2020 recipient of the Rabkin Award for Arts Journalism. Nelson holds a BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art.
Charlotte Newman, Head of Underrepresented Founder Startup Business Development, Amazon Web Services
Charlotte is a global business development leader in technology and an advocate for workplace equity who lives and works at the intersection of art, politics, and tech. She began her career as an advisor for members of Congress and the U.S. House of Representatives, including now United States Senators Cory Booker and Chris Murphy. Over the course of nearly two decades, Charlotte has moved seamlessly between the private and public sectors. As a senior economic policy advisor, Charlotte led Senator Cory Booker’s policy work on various economic issues, including matters before the U.S. Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship. Prior to her current role at Amazon, She previously led the financial services policy strategy for an initiative within the multi-billion dollar business Amazon Web Services. Additionally, She co-founded an online media platform and served as COO, giving her insight into startup business development.
Charlotte founded the Scott-Newman Collection to support artists of African descent and continue a family tradition around arts appreciation and stewardship. The collection encompasses figurative and abstract work. A fascination with artwork that draws on mythology, science, or literary narratives and artists exploring identity-related questions drives Charlotte’s collecting. Charlotte is committed to building a global collection that includes artists who inspire her worldwide. Some of the artists in the Scott-Newman collection include Kwesi Botchway, Caitlin Cherry, Esiri Erheriene-Essi, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Alteronce Gumby, and Vaughn Spann.In 2021, Charlotte served as a jurist for the Yaa Asantewaa art prize, the first prize in Africa for women artists. She is a member of the Tate Museum’s African Art Acquisition Committee and the Steering Committee for the Contemporaries program at the Phillips Collection museum, which advises the museum on programs for young members and art acquisitions.
Jan Prasens, Deputy Chairman, The Fine Art Group
Jan Prasens joined The Fine Art Group in 2021 as Deputy Chairman, overseeing the strategic growth of the business globally and working closely with the art finance team on bespoke collateral-based loans. Formerly, Jan spent over 20 years at Sotheby’s, building Sotheby’s Financial Services and overseeing the funding of more than $3 billion in loans. Subsequently, he served as the Managing Director of Sotheby’s Europe, overseeing operations in the Middle East, Russia, and India. Jan holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.
TK Smith, Assistant Curator: Art of the African Diaspora at the Barnes Foundation
TK Smith is a Philadelphia-based curator, writer, and cultural historian. Smith’s previous curatorial projects include Roland Ayers: Calligraphy of Dreams at the Woodmere Museum of Art, the 2021 Atlanta Biennial exhibition Virtual Remains at the Atlanta Contemporary, and Zipporah Camille Thompson: Looming Chaos at the Zuckerman Museum of Art. Smith’s writing has been published in Art in America, the Brooklyn Rail, and ART PAPERS, where he is a contributing editor. In 2021, he was invited to be the inaugural writer-in-residence at the Vashon Artist Residency. In 2022, he was a recipient of an Andy Warhol Writers Grant. Most recently, he was invited to be the 2022-2023 Monument Lab writer-in-residence. As a current Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University's Architecture Art Planning Program, he teaches courses on cultural criticism. Currently, Smith is a doctoral student in the History of American Civilization program at the University of Delaware, where he researches art, material culture, and the built environment. He received his Master of Arts in American Studies and his Bachelor of Arts in English and African American Studies, with a certificate in Creative Writing from Saint Louis University.
Andrew Westover, Eleanor McDonald Storza Director of Education at the High Museum of Art
An educator and ethicist, Westover helms the learning team at the High, which recently rearticulated its focus: connecting people with art and ideas to inspire better civic life. Westover’s previous positions include posts at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Phoenix Art Museum. Westover began their career as a classroom educator, and prior to museums, worked for schools, districts, and universities across the United States and abroad. Westover holds an MEd from Arizona State University, an MA in Religion from Claremont School of Theology, and an EdM and a PhD in education and ethics from Harvard University.