1970: How to Start an Art Collection on a Budget, No Overwhelm

Key Takeaways

• •

  Prioritize business skills over MFA degrees

  “I may get some pushback from this, but I don't think that MFAs are really necessary anymore. I think they're incredibly expensive, and if you want to go get a master's, go get a business degree. Because the amount that is expected from artists, Farnoosh right before we were talking about as an author, you have to have so many skill sets... part of that is marketing, understanding your financials.”

• •

  Pandemic isolation accelerated art market growth

  “The art world at a certain level just exploded. And people were inside their homes looking at their blank walls. They, I think the interior design, art world, all of that really just had this interesting moment of people thinking so much more about their own spaces because they weren't going out. And they wanted to be able to make their own space reflect them and how they wanted to live.”

• •

  AI increases value of handmade art

  “As we get more and more in the world of AI and all of that digital age, there are people that are coming to me and saying, I'm so excited about things that are made by hand, that are made by a person that I can connect with. And so we talk so much about who the artist is, as much of what the artwork is, because I think that is where people are connecting.”

• •

  Art pricing follows square inch models

  “Many artists price per square inch. So that really, if you're doing like $1.50 per square inch, it really just is a great way to understand how that price is going to balloon as you keep getting bigger. Now, a lot goes into pricing and figuring out that what that price per square inches—are they an emerging artist? Are they a little more established?”

• •

  Eliminate jargon to democratize collecting

  “There's lots of key words that I want you to be able to be like, I just heard this. Is this something I should know? You know, like the common language. And that's I do think that that jargon and that common language is often a barrier to entry to a lot of different worlds. But for the art world, there's a lot of things... I want to take away all of the guesswork.”

Episode Description

Guest Liz Lidgett believes art should be for everyone—not just collectors with deep pockets or insiders who “get it.” She’s the founder of a thriving gallery that champions emerging artists—many of them women—and she’s built a business around making art feel joyful, accessible, and deeply personal. Now, she’s bringing that mission to her new book, Art for Everyone, a practical and empowering guide to finding your style, buying art with confidence, and creating a home that actually reflects you. In this conversation, Liz and I explore why so many of us feel intimidated by the art world, how that’s finally starting to change, and what it really takes—financially and emotionally—to start collecting. We talk about pricing, the myth of art as a guaranteed investment, the rise of artists as entrepreneurs, and even how AI is reshaping what we value in handmade work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.