The Next Gen Collector: Joshua Rogers
The art world needs to be a little more aware and self-conscious of how they are being perceived by potential donors and the wider public.
5 QUESTIONS WITH Joshua Rogers
Founder & CEO, Arete Wealth; Arts Advocate, Collector, Philanthropist
Chicago, IL
As Founder & CEO, Arete Wealth, Joshua is the steward of the firm’s financial management products and services, offered through more than 30 offices and over 140 advisors nationwide. The company – a full-service Broker Dealer, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and Insurance firm – focuses on wealth management for high-net worth individuals and institutions, alternative investment access, venture capital and private equity programs. The firm has boasted year-over-year revenue growth rate under Joshua’s tenure after he founded the company in 2007. Joshua’s full bio and images of his collections follow this interview.
1. From your vantage point as an arts supporter and finance advisor, how are you experiencing and interpreting the events of 2020?
I’m actually pleasantly surprised at how resilient most of my art world contacts have been during this year. On the museum side (such as MCA Chicago) I feel like the general attitude and spirit has been buoyant and we have and are putting on some really cool and exciting exhibitions despite the headwinds. Talking with my gallery friends, they seem to be also pleasantly surprised that they are not starving to death and that collectors still seem to be buying, albeit at a slower pace than pre-pandemic. And my friends in the auction world have also been telling me that they are actually busier than they have ever been. So I think one could reasonably form a hypothesis that the old adage that fine art is an asset class that is not correlated to the overall economy, seems to be playing out as true.
2. Why do you support the arts? Based on your experience, what improvements should be made to arts funding strategies and processes?
I believe that a thriving cultural scene is not just a component, but is in fact a cause, of advanced democratic civilization. The moment we stop funding the arts and nurturing the advancement of culture is the moment we will know that our civilization is in decline or already dead. I think the major concern that I see in the arts non-profit space is a certain malaise, apathy, and indifference to the arts that I see in a majority of the current middle aged/Gen X/professional class/six-figure earners and above. I worry that our education system, and in particular the Universities and Colleges that educated this generation that is coming into money (with the discretionary income to donate to the arts), failed miserably at insisting on any kind of basic liberal arts requirements (like a required Art History class for example) for graduation. As a result, very few of my contemporaries give a darn about art and certainly are not inclined to donate to arts non-profits.
3. We are witnessing intense calls for systemic change, specifically with regards to wealth, power, and equity. What is the best role for the cultural sector as we re-imagine these systems?
In my experience, I think the arts/culture non-profit sector is probably THE most radically progressive and ultra-inclusive set of institutions out there; not just this year but in the past decade or more. I think if anything the art world needs to be a little more aware and self-conscious of how they are being perceived by potential donors and the wider public.
4. What is your collecting philosophy, and have the events of 2020 impacted your activities as an art collector?
I used to have a collecting philosophy. After about 15 years of collecting visual art, the more I know and the more “educated” my eye has become, the more I feel that the only legitimate collecting philosophy is to buy what you love and support living artists. That’s it! I have definitely bought less art in 2020 but I’ve been focusing on buying shall we say “bigger”.
5. You work with rising generation high-net worth individuals and institutions... how does this cohort view the arts? How can the arts sector best articulate its importance in society — and the joy, knowledge, networks the arts contribute to our lives — to better resonate with these rising generations?
I shared some of my thoughts on this above. I think the lack of art history education in the U.S. in the past 30 years is very problematic. I think we need a revival of liberal arts education in this country (for more reasons than just appreciation of the fine arts). The other problem is that we have now conflated fine art with celebrity culture and other garish nouveau riche pursuits. The fact that Miami is now effectively a cultural center because of the fairs is emblematic of the current fakeness of the art world. We’ve conflated what I call “models and bottles” culture with buying Kaws paintings. It’s repulsive. I think we need to get back to viewing the arts as an important educational and civilizing activity that everyone can and should enjoy. Art fairs need to be smaller, more democratic, less party oriented, and the price of the art needs to come down to more accessible levels. Alongside these changes we need more education coming from the non-profit sector on what I would call generally “art appreciation.” And the way in which art is talked about cannot be in the high-minded tone of Artforum. Instead we need a new version of the Sister Wendy documentaries to air on Netflix which can reach millions and help them to easily understand how crucial art is as a form of communication about the human experience.
As CEO of Arete Wealth, Joshua Rogers is the steward of the firm’s financial management products and services, offered through more than 30 offices and over 140 advisors nationwide. The company – a full-service Broker Dealer, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and Insurance firm – focuses on wealth management for high-net worth individuals and institutions, alternative investment access, venture capital and private equity programs. The firm has boasted year-over-year revenue growth rate under Joshua’s tenure after he founded the company in 2007.
With nearly 20 years of experience in financial services, Joshua is a seasoned financial executive, a visionary leader and an accomplished business developer across multiple industries. His industry affiliations include an elected position to represent all 3,000 registered small financial services firms across the country on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s National Adjudicatory Council (FINRA’s NAC). NAC reviews disciplinary and membership proceedings to ensure the market integrity of financial firms and advisors.
In 2018, Joshua applied his financial expertise as a managing member of Windy City Crypto LLC, which administers investment options in the expanding and evolving cryptocurrency market.
Prior to entering the financial services industry, Joshua left Georgetown Law to pursue innovation and co-invent several patents, including the ‘name your own price’ e-commerce concepts that drive Priceline.com. His inventor career took a turn towards financial services when he rose in the ranks of a brokerage firm on Wall Street, then American Express Financial Advisors, and finally Ameriprise Financial. He lived in New York City then Washington DC before relocating to Chicago.
In his expanded business and community works, Joshua lends executive perspective to the board of the Chicago chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) as well as the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCAC). He is a past board member of Threewalls, a non-profit art gallery that supports Chicago artists, and Illinois Humanities, an organization with a focus on public policy, media, business and arts.
Joshua is a graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, where he is an elected Board Member with oversight of the university’s Finance, Investment and Audit committees. He also teaches Entrepreneurship at both St. John’s Annapolis and Sante Fe campuses.
Joshua finds energy to lead an accomplished professional career by balancing it with his personal interests including global travel. He’s also a voracious reader, a published writer, an art collector and passionate follower of all things in the realm of aesthetics.
william cordova, “it may assume different shapes at different times”, 2013
Maia Cruz Palileo, “The Quiet One”, 2019
Elijah Burgher, “Don’t Confuse Trust and Control”, 2013