CONSCIOUS COLLECTING IN THE CONTEMPORARY MARKET

SARAH ARISON

Born and raised in Miami, Sarah Arison is President of the Arison Arts Foundation, a private grant-making organization that supports emerging artists and the institutions that foster them. She was immersed in the arts from a young age by her grandparents, visionary philanthropists Ted and Lin Arison, who founded Arison Arts Foundation, the National YoungArts Foundation, and the New World Symphony, among their many philanthropic endeavors.

Arison is active across a broad cross-section of national arts organizations. She is Chair of the Board of the National YoungArts Foundation, where she has developed strategic partnerships with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sotheby’s, Sundance Film Festival and more to provide aspiring talent with presentation and mentorship opportunities. Arison is Chair of the board of MoMA PS1; a trustee of MoMA and member of the Committee on Education; President of American Ballet Theatre; a trustee of Lincoln Center; a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum and Chair of the Education Committee; a trustee of New World Symphony; a member of the Board of Directors of Americans for the Arts; and a trustee of the Americas Foundation of the Serpentine Galleries.

Arison has also ventured into film producing, supporting projects that shed light on lesser known aspects of the arts. In 2015, she produced her first feature film, Desert Dancer, starring Freida Pinto. She later went on to co-produce The First Monday in May, a documentary film chronicling the creation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute blockbuster exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass. She recently co-produced The Price of Everything which was acquired by HBO at the Sundance Film Festival, and Aggie which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Photo by Nick Garcia

GEORGE WELLS

George Wells is the Founder/CEO of the Wells Group of New York, an interim CFO, Controller, and strategic finance consultancy based in New York City. Through his business, George has served as Interim CFO of Lehmann Maupin, Barstool Sports, Quip, and numerous other companies. George is a Trustee of the Parrish Museum, a Member of the Morehouse College Trustee’s Society, and is on the Whitney Museum’s Painting & Sculpture Acquisition Committee and its Artists Council, as well as the Tate America's Foundation's North American Acquisition Committee. In 2020, George bestowed a $1M gift of contemporary art to Morehouse College. The collection features works by some of the most significant Black and queer artists working today; reflecting a diverse view of the art world.

George Wells With Gary Simmons' DC Pavilion Down, (2008)

KOMAL SHAH

Originally from Ahmedabad, India, Komal Shah migrated to the US in 1991 to study computer science in California. After completing her Masters at Stanford, she obtained an MBA from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, eventually holding positions in the executive suites of Oracle, Netscape, and Yahoo. In 2008, Shah left the tech industry to focus on philanthropic pursuits. She then began developing the Shah Garg Collection with her husband and tech entrepreneur Gaurav Garg, solidifying a vision for the collection’s emphasis on women artists in 2014.

Today, they are focused on amplifying the voices of women artists and artists of color through the Shah Garg Foundation.

SARAH HARRELSON

Sarah Harrelson is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of CULTURED. A print and digital platform that tirelessly probes the depths of the creative world, spotlighting the best and brightest talents at work today from the worlds of art, fashion, music and film. Prior to starting CULTURED, Harrelson was the Editor-in-Chief of the Art Basel Magazine.

Photo by William Jess Laird