“Buy Your First Artwork”
Last year I applied for the “Buy Your First Artwork” program organized by Empower Art Foundation. And after a year of meetings and workshops I ended up winning the essay competition with my interview, available in the next post. This is my summary of what I learned and got from the program, as well as my reflections on why it was incredibly valuable for me.
"Buy Your First Artwork" is an educational program for young people taking their first steps into contemporary art. Over twelve months in Warsaw, participants visit private galleries, meet artists and collectors, take part in expert-led workshops and study sessions at the Museum of Modern Art, Zachęta National Gallery and the National Museum. They learn how the art market works in Poland and internationally, how private collections are built and what to consider when buying a first work. The program is free and no prior experience with art is required, the premise being that collecting isn't reserved for experts or for people with large budgets.
The opening ceremony was held in Zachęta National Gallery where we had a lecture from an art advisor Karolina Nowak-Sarbińska about the art market. We then visited galleries like: Gunia Nowik, Import Export, HOS, LETO, Polana Institute, Raster artists: Karolina Szwed, Grzegorz Pieniak, Jan Możdżyński, art collectors: Tomasz Pasiek, Elżbieta Trojanowska and had workshops about personal brand and curatorial practices (a few of the photos are from Empower Art and were made by Michał Zajączkowski).
It was an amazing experience, we visited galleries, artists and collectors. I learned a lot about how the art market works and was able to view it from multiple perspectives. What is usually the assumption about art collection, that it’s only for the rich and as investment proved untrue. I got to learn from multiple sources which introduced the duality between the business side and the artistic side, which became really interesting for me and is the reason why I later based my competition essay on it.
My favorite part was visiting artists in their workshops, because it gave me a glimpse of what my life as a creator might look like. It was a great opportunity to listen to what inspires them and how their creative process looks like. I discovered that I love to find out who is the person behind the pieces, because in museums it’s often very separated and here we got to meet the artists as real people.
For the essay competition we had at the end I decided to conduct an interview with Grzegorz Pieniak, an artist we visited during the program. His art really resonated with me from the very beginning, but after hearing him talk about it I got to know it from a more human side. Grzegorz is an amazing person who creates beautiful and moving art, so when I saw “interview with an artist met during the program” as a topic option I knew this is what I want to do.
I’m very satisfied with my piece, which is available to read in the next blog post, and the amount of work I put into it was recognized, as I can proudly say I won the competition. I got a beautiful painting by Zuzanna Romańska, whose art I love and admire and a 3 month internship in MSN (Warsaw Museum of Modern Art) that I plan to make the most of.
I think that the program is a great opportunity for anyone thinking about collecting, creating or curating, because it provides a solid look into the real market and its workings. I really recommend the next editions for anyone interested in art, because as I wrote in my essay, it’s very important that we build a conscious and reflective community of future art enthusiasts, especially collectors that will respect artists and their work.
I also want to thank Ms. Eliza Łoś Strychowska, founder of the Empower Art Foundation, who organized the program and always made sure we got the most of it, whenever I had any questions or doubts I could always ask and expect the highest level of help.