Collectdotgive.org

Contemporary Art can be a tough market to crack. Works routinely sell for thousands of dollars, with photographs fetching higher and higher prices. So how do those without disposable income become serious collectors? A number of websites are replacing brick and mortar establishments, democratizing art acquisitions by offering work at price points many can afford.

Startups EYE BUY ART, Saatchi Online, and Jen Bekman’s 20×200, whose operations have been temporarily suspended for obscure reasons, bring emerging artists to wider markets, effectively cutting out the gallery as middleman. But these are all venture-backed businesses that take their cut of sales just like a gallery, offering artists royalties on large editions of reproductions or, in some cases, original pieces that vary widely in price. Whether you are of the view that such companies devalue artists’ work by commoditizing it, or give a hand up to those without market reach, there is one online collectors’ community that you are sure to view differently from the rest, in a good way. Collectdotgive is not a business. It does not have investors, or take a cut of artists’ proceeds. Rather, as participating photographer Matthew Gamber explained to me, it is more of a platform for artists, collectors, and even charities.

Collectdotgive has taken the traditional model of the benefit auction and expanded upon it. It is driven by artists’ donations, limited editions of contemporary photographic prints, in smaller sizes than most galleries sell, but at far more attractive prices. Gamber, for instance, sold 20 8 x10 gelatin silver prints at $75 each. The money he raised from the sale of Transparent Seven Inch Record, 2010, was then donated in full to Perkins School for the Blind. That is how collectdotgive works. Photographers donate their work, pledging to give 100% of their proceeds to charities of their choice. Gamber, whose series Any Color You Like explores concepts related to color blindness, chose to support Perkins School. Others have funded Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders; Americans for the Arts; Fundación Veteranos de Guerra de Jinotega; Animal Welfare Institute; or Susan G. Komen for the Cure. A total of 74 charities are listed on the collectdotdot live website.

To date, 800 limited edition photographs have been sold, with $43,472 raised for charitable donations. Artists who have exhibited nationally and internationally, published widely, and attained coveted gallery representation offer a new print every three weeks. They are movers and shakers. Collectdotgive would be appealing for that reason alone. It provides a virtual venue for serious collectors to acquire work by established artists, and does so in a democratic way that is accessible and affordable. But collectdotgive is much more than that. It operates on good works entirely. It was generously designed and developed by Dalton Rooney and his web design agency, Raygun, at no cost. And in 2011, when collectdotgive created a book from its first 50 prints, publisher MagCloud offered discounted production costs, allowing book designer Heidi Romano to donate 100% of publication profits to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Charities benefit in a direct way, as do collectors, who have an online gallery of quality art at their fingertips that is within most budgets. But artists, too, benefit from their participation. The organization collectdotgive is a community, promoting its work to a larger audience, and larger market. It is not unheard of for artists to forge new relationships with collectors in this way. And unlike most charity auctions or sales, this platform allows artists to claim the value of their artwork for tax purposes when they make donations from sales directly to the nonprofit causes of their choice.

To support the work of artists or nonprofits this holiday season, consider doing both at once through collectdotgive. Art has long been a gift that, proverbially, keeps on giving. It is now a gift that tangibly keeps on giving back.

Robyn Day is a photographer who has shown work nationally. She writes about the arts for Big Red & Shiny, Aint-Bad Magazine, and Art New England, and coordinates publicity and marketing for Lacoste Gallery.