4 Ways to Cultivate Your Future and Legacy as an Art Collector and Artist Today
Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself.
-George Bernard Shaw
This article extends the previous post, Cultivating Your Legacy: 5 Vital Actions to Sustain Your Success as an Artist.
Death is inevitable, and no one is immune to it nor knows when and how we'll depart this world. The creative and art industry recently lost two legends, Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) and Virgil Abloh (1980-2021). Both were influential figures in the music industry, where Sondheim had a long, illustrious career as a composer and lyricist, while Abloh's prolific work in fashion and life sadly ended prematurely at the age of 41 due to rare cancer. When we study legendary artists' lives carefully, they remind us to spend our precious time wisely and live our lives the way we want to be remembered in the future. Despite the myths, legacy planning is not just for the wealthy, famous, or aging population. It's an opportunity for us to contemplate and celebrate our time on this planet and live purposefully to create an impact for those around us and future generations.
Artists throughout history also have been expressing "memento mori" or "remember death" or "remember that you die" throughout centuries. For example, the still lifes and "veritas" paintings depict inanimate objects, such as skulls or dead animals, or other symbolic objects to remind us that we are our mortals and provide space for us to contemplate our values and lives. For a more contemporary example, Adam McEwen's Untitled series blurs the boundaries between life and death and history and fiction by writing fictitious obituaries of living celebrities, such as Nicole Kidman, Richard Prince, and Kate Moss, to name a few.
Artists have a significant advantage of extending their lives beyond their life on earth through their artwork. Other professions are also remembered for their impact on our society and humanity. Although our physical presence dissipates when we die, legacy and influence in our world extend our immortality.
PRIME YOUR MINDSET: YOUR LEGACY EVOLVES
Legacy is an uncomfortable and sensitive subject to bring up, especially when dealing with aging parents or even aging selves. We don't like to think about what happens after we depart this world. As a result, we tend to avoid or postpone these conversations because it often triggers and confronts our fears, especially our regrets.
Like any concept, every meaning of the word is based on how we perceive and interpret it. Death does not need to be good or bad—it's about shifting our perspective. However, death does need to be morbid or tragic, and we don't have to wait until our aging days to think about how we wished we had lived. The most important thing is acknowledging where we are today and starting each day to live life the way we want to be remembered in the future.
Before implementing any tangible strategies for our goals, we must question and assess our intrinsic values and limiting beliefs about legacy, wealth, and success. One of the major barriers to talking about legacy planning is a sense of overwhelm and fear of feeling exposed, uncertainty, and regrets. So first, ask yourself whether these beliefs are your own or from external influences. Most of the time, our limiting beliefs stemmed from our parents, culture, or society. Then, reframe the old mindset and install new thoughts as you see fit. As George Bernard Shaw also wisely said, "Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
2. ASSESS AND IDENTIFY YOUR LEGACY GOALS
One way to extend our lives is to create a legacy plan for yourself and your artist parents. Every legacy is unique so are the details of the legacy planning. Not all estates are the s.ame because everyone's goals and practices are different. Starting a conversation with yourself or your family member isn't very easy. The sooner you have this conversation, the easier it is, and you'll have more control over how you want to design your legacy plans. To have a conversation about a difficult/touchy subject is to create a safe and judgment-free space and not interrogate with invasive questions. Instead, start with a non-evasive question in a casual manner: "how do you want to be remembered someday?" Lead with "what" questions rather than "why"s.
I often see artists make fatal mistakes in delaying their estate planning process indefinitely. They wait until something happens and run into conflicts and disputes with their family members or heirs. Sadly artists leave everything up to their family or heirs to "figure it out" for them rather than proactively communicating their vision and wishes. Thus their ideas and plans get lost in translation or wholly obliterated. Why should your family, heirs, or others care if you don't care about your legacy?
3. ASSEMBLE YOUR DOCUMENTS AND TEAM
Consult an attorney specializing in estate planning for yourself or an aging parent and go over specific details on how you want to distribute your estate and your artwork. Regulations vary from state to state, and every case is unique. Below are the essential estate planning documents (please note that this is not legal advice, and details must be consulted and executed with an attorney in your state/country).
Legal documents to create and revisit:
-Will or Trust
-Living Will
-Power of Attorney
-Health Care Proxy
-Review/revisit any contracts with your representatives
Representatives to activate and execute your legacy plans:
-Executor
-Trustee
-Power of Attorney
-Estate Planning Attorney
-Insurance Broker
-Cultural Advisor (someone who oversees/manages/advises your artwork and legacy, have limited legal authority-e.g. smART Advisory)
-Art Appraiser
4. ACTIVATE THE PLAN DURING YOUR LIFE TIME AND SET THE STAGE FOR POSTHUMOUS YEARS AS YOU ENVISIONED
Sadly many artists don't take the necessary actions to create their legacy plans until far later in their careers and lives. By that time, they have generated an enormous volume of their work; they end up feeling overwhelmed and leave it up to someone to "figure out" for them after their death. Not having any plans and an "I'm just an artist" attitude put your work and future in danger and creates legal complications (plus fees) and enormous distress for their heirs or children.
Successful artists are thoughtful planners despite the stereotypes of artists as "flakes" or "scattered." For example, one of the recognizable artists in modern art, Pablo Picasso, stated:
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
Goals without any plans are just a wish.
Now that you have everything on paper, it's time to turn your wishes and goals into reality. Although many artist foundations are created posthumously, some artists want to make sure they maintain their vision and create one during their lifetime.
Once everything is legally bound and appropriately set, focus on living in the moment and create more artwork! Then, you can revisit these documents and procedures every few years as life changes.
Thinking about your future and don’t know where to start? For a limited time, book you complimentary 15-min consultation call here for additional support or resources.
(Disclaimer: All ideas and commentaries presented in this post are for information only. These are not legal, medical, or financial advice.)