Collecting With Purpose

I am a tad late back to the office this January. Some unexpected events last week caused a little upheaval to my schedule, and my MO to be honest.

On Monday, I had the distinct honor of eulogizing my grandfather at his memorial service. I spent many hours over the course of several days last week remembering his life and thinking about what made him who he was. He was a man of faith, joy, resiliency, and purpose. As I thought about my time with him and what made him a great man, and more specifically, the best grandfather was that the time I spent him with was always purpose-filled. It was never passive or happenstance, and that made him present in every moment. He had reasons for the activities he did with me and my sister. He was all-in every time. I did not realize it at the time but can say now, looking back, that this purposeful way of living is what made him so successful personally and professionally.

As I sit here today, I find myself looking to these lessons I learned from writing his eulogy and thinking about how I might apply them to my own life. Sure, I can be more present with my kids (Put the phone down!) and be more intentional about staying in touch with friends who live far away. But what I really wanted to get straight for myself was how I can make my professional work more meaningful.

To be honest, sometimes, I feel like my work is frivolous and self-serving. With everything happening in the world, it is hard to say that anyone NEEDS to buy more art. I imagine there are a few of you reading this who may want to debate that statement, but hear me out.

It is not that anyone NEEDS to buy more art to survive, physically speaking. BUT, I would argue that art IS critical to our survival as a society as we have known it. Art is a vehicle for community. It begets community. It brings people together to love, admire, feel, argue, debate, and understand. Art, well, good art, helps us both better understand ourselves and our own perspectives, but also our world in new and meaningful ways. It helps us come to grips with difficult truths or find our way through foreign situations or acknowledge and understand differing viewpoints. In a recent conversation with Leilani Lynch, she observed that art forges our path to progress and artists often have a head start on that journey, forging the way for the rest of us to come along behind. It helps us bridge the gap across what divides and illuminates possible ways to move forward together.

And isn’t community what is lacking most in our society today? In his Parting Prescription for America, former US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy opined that:

In addition to more commonly discussed challenges such as economic hardship, mental health struggles, and uncertainty about the future, there is something else that has been missing for many people that is a critical driver of health and well-being: community. The three critical components of community are relationships, service, and purpose. They comprise the triad of fulfillment.

It seems to me that art is a place to form and strengthen relationships; it can be a vehicle to serve others; and, it can help all of us fulfill the human need for purpose in our lives. I would contend that collecting art with purpose will turn this little thing we do as a hobby or passion project into an act that will grow beyond ourselves.

What do I mean by collecting with purpose?

I think it can mean different things for different people but I’ll give you an example. For one client who is passionate about philanthropy in the areas of the arts, nature, and healthcare in Cleveland, collecting with purpose might mean building a collection of artists who are offering a variety of perspectives on those themes. It would mean supporting the artists who are forging that proverbial path toward agreement on issues of the environment, for example. Supporting the wayfinders, so to speak, is yet another avenue through which they can deepen their impact on the areas that are most important to them. Moreover, it allows them another opportunity to share their passions with those around them. It could go a little something like this:

Friend: Oh, I see you got a new piece of art. What is it?

Collector: You noticed! I LOVE this artist! They are a Cleveland-based artist that makes work all about the forces of time and nature on our culture.

Friend: Wow! What does that mean?

Collector: Well, it could mean that the artist invites the viewer to think about what the future looks like if we keep on our current trajectory. What do you think it means?

Boom! Community-building at its finest! Friends getting to know each other on a deeper level through mutual vulnerability. Passions shared through the softer vehicle of a pretty picture. Relationship-check. Service-check. Purpose-check. Community—check, check, check.

So maybe we don’t NEED art to physically survive, but we do need it to thrive as humans and to continue to build the society we hope to leave to our children.

If that is what my work does, then I feel good about my purpose. In honor of my grandfather, a man of admirable purpose, I am resolving in 2025 to help my clients collect art with purpose and strengthen their communities so that they can thrive!