The Art Market Entrepreneur: Susan J Mumford
It’s time that we shift from top-to-bottom power plays, to identify and honour the value that all parties bring to the table.
5 QUESTIONS WITH Susan J Mumford
Art Market Entrepreneur
Lewes, East Sussex & London, UK; USA; Continental Europe; Online
Susan J Mumford is a serial entrepreneur in the art market. Having arrived in the UK from the USA in 2000, she ran a gallery in Soho, London, from 2006-11. When the art world entered a new era following the credit crunch of 2008, she founded the Association of Women Art Dealers (AWAD), an international multi-chapter non-profit network connecting women and women-identifying art dealers on a global basis. This was followed by the creation of Be Smart About Art, an online-accessible professional development platform that helps creative professionals thrive in a changing world. In 2018, she embarked upon her latest enterprise, ArtAML, which unites technology and art market know-how to help dealers keep dealing and buyers keep buying in the face of anti-money laundering legislation that hit the art market in 2020. Discover her enterprises at www.susanjmumford.com and follow her across social channels via @susanjmumford.
1. You run several impactful organizations that overlap art with: 1. women’s leadership, 2. finance, and 3. money laundering. Given your various vantage points on the art world, how are you prioritizing the challenges posed by 2020?
When the pandemic hit, I was compelled by an inner drive to support professional communities, ranging from a global network that I founded to a local community for women/women-identifying business owners. As a long-term embracer of online connectivity, it was akin to welcoming others to my world!
Now a number of months into a changed and ever-shifting landscape, I’ve co-created an approach for prioritising that I’m personally pursuing and encourage others to adopt, however small or big the changes to be made:
Step 1: Observe
Step 2: Do one or a combination of the following - Adapt, Diversify, Pivot.
2. It can be stated that the systemic challenges we are witnessing are all interconnected: the challenges to power, the questioning of current systems, and the critiques of wealth creation — and how that directly relates to who is at the helm of philanthropy. How might we in the art world, especially those that work in both the nonprofit and market sides, further bring awareness as we re-imagine systems related to wealth, privilege, and equity?
The public and private sectors can indeed learn much from one another, which is a topic that many industry players have long discussed. From museums taking greater perceived risks on artists who are offered retrospectives to galleries actively tackling bias in responses to sales enquiries, the system is due an objective rethink.
In the re-imagining of systems related to wealth, privilege and equity, it’s important to appreciate that ‘value’ is not exclusively monetary but has many forms (think: exchanges) that solve problems and add value. The current era is seeing the embrace of a “change” mindset previously unseen in my lifetime and presents an unquestionable opportunity for overhauling systems. If you’re going to be daring and make shifts that might have seemed too outrageous in the world prior to C-19, this is a window to go for it.
All of this is said as someone who was raised in Arkansas and ‘made it’ in London and the international art market. It’s likely that seeing much poverty in my home state combined with the experiences of breaking into the early noughties (think: class system hanging on for dear life) art world was a driver of my core personal value, fairness. A conclusion of multiple panel discussions that I’ve facilitated on the topic of gender equality in the art world has been striking: the key lies within ourselves. And fear not, in striving towards an equal, inclusive and diverse world that re-imagines systems, it’s not a matter of positions of power and status being at risk, as a world of ideas, opportunities, creations and connections never otherwise known awaits you.
3. Talk to me about the UK and the U.S.… what we can learn from each other’s approaches to these matters, and responses to the crises of 2020?
There’s always something that my two countries “divided by a common language” can learn from one another. Consider it a complementary balance between the American can-do spirit (think: how a problem presents an opportunity) and British caution (think: the highlighting of everything that might go wrong).
Something that struck me in the weeks following George Floyd’s murder was the outspoken nature of American culture. Although Black Lives Matter protests have also taken place in the UK, the tendency of Brits to be reserved can give the false impression that racism is less of an issue. It’s imperative that we actively strive towards racial parity, which necessitates speaking out, no matter how uncomfortable. That said, it’s clear in coverage of lockdown protests that American “rugged individualism” is not helping efforts to contain the pandemic. Take a leaf from the British driving standards book, which instructs you to collectively work with other drivers to ease the flow of traffic, as opposed to taking to the highway as if it belongs to you and you alone.
This brings me to your question, as finding new ways of looking and thinking provides incredible perspective. I encourage actively seeking the perspective of others, including those from differing circles and cultures, to solve problems. You’ll be a long part of the way to the solution - or at least *a* solution, whether that’s crowdfunding a project or finding a new model.
4. Looking at cultural philanthropy and patronage: from your view, what new strategies and processes should be developed going forward?
I’m going to tackle this from the perspective of (perceived) power: It’s time that we shift from top-to-bottom power plays, to identify and honour the value that all parties bring to the table. Philanthropists and patrons take value from artists and creative organisations, and vice versa. This shift is significant and requires that both sides value themselves and the other, which arguably takes a degree of meta-awareness. An apt parallel is the evolution of the relationship between mentors and mentees to incorporate reverse mentoring, thereby seeing a flow of knowledge in both directions.
Embracing this perspective at foundational level will inform strategies and processes developed for individual projects and institutions / entities.
5. I have argued that the art world has been experiencing a crisis of relevancy, and that the events of 2020 are accelerating the changes many wanted to see, especially next generation creatives, audiences, and donors. How do you think these crises might change the landscape of cultural patronage, and society’s view of arts as a whole?
Starting with mid-2020 observations, third-party platforms are reporting a surge of buyers they’ve never previously seen. In the introduction to the Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2020, Robert Read takes the view that the pandemic will result in a lasting change for how we buy art. My hope is that many individuals who experience imposter syndrome upon stepping foot into a gallery or fair find the online art world less intimidating.
This is accompanied by an observation of gallerists about the focus on art, and not the beverages on offer, in online dialogues between audiences and artists / curators. There’s an intention to carry on with these events that reach increasingly diverse audiences.
And then there’s price transparency, for which I’ve been campaigning for over a decade. That’s not to forget the increasing acceptance of installment payments, supporting the financial health of patrons and artists / galleries alike. Brought together, the online experience of art and the community within and around it, in combination with pricing and payment positioning, is set to see diversification in patronage of the art world.
Peering to 2023, we can only hope that the arts will increasingly look and sound like each and every person reading this article. Imagine how rewarding that change will be to experience, abundant with opportunity and creativity for all.
Susan J Mumford is a serial entrepreneur in the art market. Having arrived in the UK from the USA in 2000, she ran a gallery in Soho, London, from 2006-11. When the art world entered a new era following the credit crunch of 2008, she founded the Association of Women Art Dealers (AWAD), an international multi-chapter non-profit network connecting women and women-identifying art dealers on a global basis. This was followed by the creation of Be Smart About Art, an online-accessible professional development platform that helps creative professionals thrive in a changing world. In 2018, she embarked upon her latest enterprise, ArtAML, which unites technology and art market know-how to help dealers keep dealing and buyers keep buying in the face of anti-money laundering legislation that hit the art market in 2020. Discover her enterprises at www.susanjmumford.com and follow her across social channels via @susanjmumford.
Virtual Reality Room. Photo by Chris E. King, www.cekingphoto.com
Nothing To Say. Photo by Chris E. King, www.cekingphoto.com
House of Cards. Photo by Chris E. King, www.cekingphoto.com