Art Basel wants collectors to purchase new artworks and donate to charity at the same time.
Art Basel, the premier international art fair brand, announced its new program Access by Art Basel, an online marketplace designed to encourage philanthropy. The platform’s launch coincides with Art Basel Miami Beach, which opens to the public at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Dec. 8.
Collectors’ donations will go toward their choice of The Miami Foundation, which supports local organizations, or The International Committee of the Red Cross.
The first Access sale will open on Monday. Collectors can submit requests on artworks until Dec. 10 and view the works in person at the fair. For each purchase request made on an artwork, collectors are required to pledge a charitable donation that is at least 10% of the artwork’s price tag.
Art Basel plans to donate $25,000, split evenly between The Miami Foundation and ICRC, according to the fair’s statement. The platform was developed with Arcual, a technology company.
‘The art community is deeply engaged in the world around it,” said Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz in a statement. “We wanted to deliver a platform that meaningfully and effectively supports the causes that matter to our galleries and their artists, while allowing them to remain the beneficiaries of 100% of the sale on artworks.”
Over a dozen galleries are participating in the platform’s launch, including Pace Gallery, Hauser & Wirth and Miami-based Frederic Snitzer Gallery. Exhibitors are selling works by world renowned artists, like Katherine Bradford, Jenny Holzer and Miami’s own Hernan Bas.
This story was produced with financial support from The Pérez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
