Creativity belongs to humanity - it's innate in all of us. Activating that creativity is a gift not only to yourself, but an inspiration to others around you. Join us in this week by week game of finding your creativity. We make it simple, accessible and non-intimidating.

Creativity belongs to humanity - it's innate in all of us. Activating that creativity is a gift not only to yourself, but an inspiration to others around you. Join us in this week by week game of finding your creativity. We make it simple, accessible and non-intimidating.

We hear over and over in the news about issues surrounding the estates of artists and how family members or caretakers are having control over the artwork and sales. There are lawsuits, family discord, issues with heirs mismanaging the remaining collection of artworks and stories of others involved in the artist’s careers or at the end of their lives taking advantage of the artist’s success. Joining me today is Kelly Juhasz, principal of Fine Art Appraisal and Services, to talk about how artists can better plan for their own legacy to ensure that their reputations and remaining artworks are handled properly and reduce the opportunity for mismanagement. In this episode Kelly will answer questions such as: What is artist legacy planning? Why should artist’s care about what happens to their work after they pass? What are some of the biggest issues that Kelly has seen in working with artist’s estates What can living artists do to start to prepare for their own legacy?

Many family members of artists find themselves with a new full-time job if not a full second career when the artist in the family passes away and no concrete plans were made to deal with not only the artwork left behind but also the artist’s reputation and market. Joining me today is Kelly Juhasz, principal of Fine Art Appraisal and Services, who will talk to us about dealing with the estates of artists and the services her company provides around legacy planning for artists. In this episode Kelly will answer questions such as: What do family members need to know about working with the legacy of a family member artist? What are these specific tasks that need to be done in order to build and protect the legacy and artwork of an artist? What practical tasks can the families of artists do to get ready or start building the artist’s legacy? Learn more about Kelly Juhasz and her services here: www.fineartappraisalandservices.com 

In this episode of the Art Elevator Podcast, Larissa interviews Doug Bort on Art and Money Laundering. In this third episode of a three part series on art crime, they discuss: - What is restitution? - What are some scenarios and how does the process work for restitution? - What is it like to go undercover, posing as a middleman? Founder and Managing Partner of Odyssey Global Consulting, LLC, Doug Bort spent twenty-one years as a Special Agent with the United States Customs Service and Homeland Security Investigations. Doug is a Subject Matter Expert in the investigation of art and cultural property crimes. During his tenure with Homeland Security Investigations, Doug represented the United States in international investigations around the world and was heavily involved in United States national policy decisions and international diplomacy. With a proven record of successfully leading complex international investigations, his work has resulted in the recovery and return of over $3 million worth of cultural property to its rightful owners. Notably, Doug developed and operated an extremely effective undercover platform which targeted the illegal sales of cultural property, art and antiquities, including sales that funded international terrorist organizations. He was also instrumental in cultivating, developing, and conducting training for other Special Agents and law enforcement agencies, both in the United States and abroad, pertaining to the investigation of art and cultural property crimes. Now in the private sector, Doug uses his vast knowledge and extensive experience to provide expert services to museums, private collectors, insurance companies and other individual clients. Learn more about Doug Bort: Odyssey Consulting  

In this episode of the Art Elevator Podcast, Larissa interviews Doug Bort on Art and Money Laundering. In this first episode of a three part series on art crime, they discuss: - What is the difference between a fake and a forgery? - What is the process for figuring out if a painting is fake? - Some case studies with the different motives behind each of them. Founder and Managing Partner of Odyssey Global Consulting, LLC, Doug Bort spent twenty-one years as a Special Agent with the United States Customs Service and Homeland Security Investigations. Doug is a Subject Matter Expert in the investigation of art and cultural property crimes. During his tenure with Homeland Security Investigations, Doug represented the United States in international investigations around the world and was heavily involved in United States national policy decisions and international diplomacy. With a proven record of successfully leading complex international investigations, his work has resulted in the recovery and return of over $3 million worth of cultural property to its rightful owners. Notably, Doug developed and operated an extremely effective undercover platform which targeted the illegal sales of cultural property, art and antiquities, including sales that funded international terrorist organizations. He was also instrumental in cultivating, developing, and conducting training for other Special Agents and law enforcement agencies, both in the United States and abroad, pertaining to the investigation of art and cultural property crimes. Now in the private sector, Doug uses his vast knowledge and extensive experience to provide expert services to museums, private collectors, insurance companies and other individual clients. Learn more about Doug Bort: Odyssey Consulting                

In this episode of the Art Elevator Podcast, Larissa interviews Doug Bort on Art and Money Laundering. In this first episode of a three part series on art crime, they discuss: - What money laundering is - How art is used in money laundering - Some case studies and surprising statistics on art and money laundering Founder and Managing Partner of Odyssey Global Consulting, LLC, Doug Bort spent twenty-one years as a Special Agent with the United States Customs Service and Homeland Security Investigations. Doug is a Subject Matter Expert in the investigation of art and cultural property crimes. During his tenure with Homeland Security Investigations, Doug represented the United States in international investigations around the world and was heavily involved in United States national policy decisions and international diplomacy. With a proven record of successfully leading complex international investigations, his work has resulted in the recovery and return of over $3 million worth of cultural property to its rightful owners. Notably, Doug developed and operated an extremely effective undercover platform which targeted the illegal sales of cultural property, art and antiquities, including sales that funded international terrorist organizations. He was also instrumental in cultivating, developing, and conducting training for other Special Agents and law enforcement agencies, both in the United States and abroad, pertaining to the investigation of art and cultural property crimes. Now in the private sector, Doug uses his vast knowledge and extensive experience to provide expert services to museums, private collectors, insurance companies and other individual clients.

Heather Bhandari (she/her) is the Co-Founder of Art World Learning (AWL): a subscription-based, online education platform to help those in the creative sector thrive by making intelligent business and financial decisions. It grew from a business and financial health conference for visual artists, named Art World Conference (AWC), which debuted in NYC in April of 2019, Los Angeles in February of 2020, and online in October of 2020. She and her AWL co-founder, Dexter Wimberly, were listed in the Observer's "Arts Power 50: Changemakers Shaping the Art World in 2019." Heather is also an independent curator; a co-founder of the project-based curatorial team and podcast, The Remix; a trustee of Art Omi (an international artist residency in Ghent, NY); and an adjunct lecturer at Brown University where she teaches professional practice to visual arts majors. The second edition of her book, ART/WORK, was published by Simon and Schuster in October of 2017.  From 2000 to 2016 Heather was a director of Mixed Greens, a commercial gallery in Chelsea where she curated well over one hundred exhibitions while managing a roster of nearly two-dozen emerging to mid-career artists. Most recently, she was the Director of Exhibitions at Smack Mellon, a nonprofit in Brooklyn. Heather received a BA from Brown University and an MFA from Pennsylvania State University where she recently received  their College of Arts and Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award. Her career began at contemporary galleries Sonnabend and Lehmann Maupin, both in New York City. - The reality for most artists is they need to run a business as well as create masterpieces, and often incredible artists aren’t wired for the former skillset. Heather covers some of the fundamentals an artist needs to have a viable career from a business standpoint - Learn the benefit to society at large from providing this education for artists - While we can question the root problems that have plagued “starving” artists in making a living to survive and thrive, hear what Heather Bhandari and Dexter Wimberly are doing to turn this around and empower artists through Art World Learning

With 3D printing, virtual reality and other technologies available, sculptors have an opportunity to explore the three dimensional in a way not previously possible. Join me as I chat with Nick Ervinck on how he harnesses these technologies to create works that speak to the present and the future, though remain grounded in the lineage of sculpture through time. As an artist I am particularly interested in the tension between nature and culture, between tradition and innovation. I try to push the limits of digital possibilities, while maintaining respect for the (art) historical legacy. When creating a work I investigate the possibilities between the organic and the digital, between the virtual and the physical. I explore classical themes such as man (with a focus on the anatomy and the emergence of cyborgs), plants (especially their genetic manipulation), masks and animals, always starting from an (art) historical background that I cut with contemporary pop and sci-fi culture. - Nick Ervinck

For this episode I had the pleasure of discussing the connections between art and transformation with artist Miriam Vlaming, whose work explores the human experience through figurative subject matter. Join us in this exploration of how art can create pathways for us to see ourselves more clearly, from different perspectives and ultimately lead to transformation.