First micro-economics, then micro-blogging, and now micro-philanthropy is on the agenda. The Irish Museum of Modern Art has just sent an email round to it’s mailing list subscribers asking for help buying a collection of four drawings by Bea McMahon: art lovers are asked to contribute a donation from €5. If IMMA fail to meet the asking price, the money stays in your account. If enough people donate, you may have just helped secure a major piece of art for about the cost of a pint (depending on on swanky your choice water hole is, admittedly).
It’s a solution to the funding crisis that get’s right to the point. Once in a blue moon, an old-fashioned exceedingly rich (and exceedingly refined) figure may appear and donate a vast and rich collection of artworks to a public institution, however, this is not an outcome any gallery can feasibly rely on happening. Micro-philanthropy, however, allows the keen but perhaps not as deep pocketed art lover to play a part in contributing to the public’s art collection.
What’s more, this approach makes galleries’ choices of purchases a little more democratic – works bought are ones which the public want to see the most. Though there would undoubtedly be problems with this X-Factor like approach to buying art if it was adopted all the time, I think it’s only fair that the public should have a little say in what works get bought, every once in a while.
I’m in half a mind to start rallying round for donations to allow me to buy a Bea McMahon of my own, but I suspect the public will be less sympathetic with my cause – so I’ll help spread the word about IMMA’s plea instead. As the video above shows, McMahon is a really exciting young artist, who would really add to IMMA’s collection (from an economic point of view as well as an aesthetic one – her works are bound to go up in value as her career progresses). Anyone who fancies themselves a connoisseur and has a fiver to spare should head over to Fund It, where donations can be made….
Note: the images posted are all works by Bea McMahon, not all are amongst the works IMMA are looking to buy, however… watch the video to see what works are on their wish list!
Rosa Abbott is an arts, fashion and culture obsessive originating from Yorkshire, England, and currently living in Dublin, Ireland. On top of being a student at the illustrious Trinity College, she is a freelance journalist, writing for a number of Irish publications, and also edits the visual arts section of entertainment magazine Totally Dublin.
When she’s not up to her eyeballs in writing, Rosa works as an assistant to stylist Aisling Farinella and volunteers at various art galleries. Her musings on life, style and art can also be found over at her blog, Too Gallant.
