For visual artists seeking information about estate planning, there is an alternative to high-priced legal fees. The Center for Art Law, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that disseminates information about art and law-related news and events, is holding an Artist Legacy and Estate Planning Clinic on Friday at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom.
The program will begin with a 30-minute keynote address by Mara McCarthy, a curator and the owner of the Box Gallery in Los Angeles. From 6 to 8, each participating artist will be paired with a volunteer professional for a confidential 20-minute discussion. The consultations are suitable for any visual artists interested in planning for their future legacies and estates, including where to start.
The professionals lined up as of press time include the art appraisers Leslie Calero, Ashley Burke, and Charles T. Rosoff; the attorneys Elizabeth Devolder, Amanda Nelson, and Z. Hall; Galina Portnoy, a C.P.A., and Christopher Wise, an insurance broker and risk strategist who specializes in fine art.
The fee is $10, and preregistration through Eventbrite is mandatory. Registrants will be asked to fill out a confidential intake form to enable the center to pair them with the appropriate consultant. For those interested only in the keynote address, tickets are $5.
The Center for Art Law hosts programs including conferences, workshops, and clinics that serve visual artists, attorneys, students, scholars of both law and art, art market professionals, and members of the general public. Carol Steinberg, an attorney who practices in East Hampton and New York City, is a member of the center’s board of directors.
Other upcoming programs include online lunchtime talks. “Some Like It Digital,” which will explain NFTs in lay and legal terms, is set for Friday at noon via Zoom.
The conversation will include Louise Carron, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and entertainment law; Kenny Schachter, an artist, curator, writer, dealer, and attorney by training, and Irina Tarsis, an art historian and the founding director of the center.
On Friday, Dec. 17, also at noon, Oriane Cannac, an associate at a London law firm who specializes in international arbitration and commercial litigation, and Stephanie Drawdy, an artist and attorney, will discuss “everything art and law-related” from the perspective of both artists and lawyers.
Tickets for each lunchtime talk are $10, $5 for artists. A link to tickets for all events is available from the center's website.
