The 2016 Artist-Endowed Foundation Leadership Forum, an annual invitational symposium for senior artist-endowed foundation leaders, was presented by the Hoffman Forum in collaboration with the University of Miami School of Law and the Aspen Institute Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City in November.
Miami Law Professor Stephen K. Urice, who oversees the Art Law track for the school’s LL.M. in Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law, co-directed the 2016 Forum with Christine Vincent, AEFI Project Director, and Miami Law adjunct faculty.
Eighty-nine senior leaders of 60 artist-endowed foundations in the U.S. and Europe, including the directors of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, and
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts gathered at the 2016 Forum. Participants explored and discussed key issues and innovations in practice and policy that are affecting the
field’s charitable impact in art stewardship and cultural philanthropy.
The Forum annually promotes collegial exchange among foundation senior leaders and informs the research, publication, and knowledge-sharing programs of AEFI. The 2016 Forum’s sessions updated long-standing issues, highlighted new concerns, and set forth emerging innovations on topics identified by foundation leaders as a priority for collegial exchange.
William Charron, Esq., a member of the Advisory Board of the Hague-based “Authentication in Art” and a litigation partner and co-chair of the Art Law Group at Pryor Cashman, described a new AiA initiative to organize an international alternative dispute resolution tribunal specializing in art authentication disputes. Charron provided information on AiA’s process for creating and operating the new tribunal and its primary benefit: the discrete, affordable, quick, and final resolution of authentication disputes.
Another session focused on artist-endowed foundations’ interests in the practice of socially responsible investing, discussed by a panel including Jackie Vanderburg of U.S. Trust; Cynthia A. Gehrig, formerly of Jerome Foundation; Gregory M. Avis of Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; and David Stark of Keith Haring Foundation. Judith Samuelson of the Aspen Institute Business and Society program served as moderator. The panelists brought attention to the growing number of artist-endowed foundations and the potential of socially responsible investing to advance a foundation’s charitable values.
International artist Emilia Kabakov, who, with her husband, Ilya Kabakov, founded the Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Foundation and its Ship of Tolerance project, was the Forum’s keynote luncheon speaker; she was joined by Robert Storr, artist, curator, and former Dean of Yale School of Art. The Ship of Tolerance project works in diverse communities around the world. It engages children from different cultural backgrounds, in building a full-scale ship with sails made of artworks as common ground to build inter-group understanding. Kabakov shared inspiring moments from the history of this charitable effort and discussed the question of artists’ creative vision as the context for philanthropy.
Miami Law faculty and alumni were well-represented. Dean Patricia White provided opening remarks in the morning and closing thoughts at the evening reception. Professor Urice moderated the final panel, introduced the issue briefings, and participated in the opening and closing remarks. Dennis Scholl, J.D. ’81 provided summary reflections on the day’s discussions following the last panel. Larry J. Hoffman, J.D. ’54, and Deborah Hoffman, J.D. ’83 also attended the Forum. The Hoffman Forum was created in 2014 through their generosity with a mission to convene national and international leaders around significant public policy issues.
Two Miami Law students assisted as interns. Polina Ivko is enrolled in a joint J.D./LL.M. (Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law) degree program; Jonathan D. Erbstein is enrolled in a combined triple degree J.D./LL. M. (Tax Law)/MBA program. This is the second year during which Miami Law students have participated as Forum interns.
“The Forum presents a unique opportunity to introduce our students to cultural philanthropy and related fields such as the law of tax-exempt organizations and art law that may engage their professional interests,” said Urice.
