We Are All Storytellers
Whether you make art or collect it, a compelling story is always the impetus.
In DC, it’s not unusual to shake hands with someone at an art opening who introduces themselves as a collector. However, in Baltimore I have met very few individuals comfortable self-identifying in this way over the past two decades.
It’s not because Baltimore-based collections are not worthy of such distinction or because practitioners aren’t serious about it. And it’s certainly not because Baltimore lacks historical precedent, with the Cone Sisters and the Walters Father & Son Duo amassing world renowned accumulations of relevant cultural materials.
I think the pressure to eschew the designation of ‘collector’ comes from Baltimore’s down-to-earth, blue collar roots, where artists and makers abound, but it feels pretentious to call oneself a patron. And yet, we all collect.
Artists collect art by other artists. Artists collect all kinds of things and use their gifts for creative problem solving in their display and arrangement. I believe that this appellation, “collector,” is actually an opportunity to bring artists and patrons closer together, onto the same playing field and into the same vocabulary. It’s a tie that binds, but has lurked like a secret, inappropriate for polite conversation.
Like art, good collections tell a story. My own collection tells the story of artistic excellence and mixed media process in Baltimore, circa 2000-2026. Other collections based in Baltimore tell the story of communities, of research and building relationships through travel, of material culture unique to Baltimore, and of cultural omission and discovery.
I am thinking about this today because I just interviewed internationally respected collector Komal Shah, the incredible force of nature behind the Making Their Mark exhibition, on display in Washington DC at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), and the subsequent Making Their Mark Forum, a gathering of powerful art scholars and makers, all women.
My conversation with Shah was revelatory; she is everything you could want in a collector. She is brilliant, fearless, and unintimidated by provenance or price.
Her willingness to talk about the why and how behind the collection, which exclusively features women artists who take up a LOT of space, is an opportunity for all of us who are interested in telling stories through the objects (and artists) we collect.
Here is a snippet from the article just published today at BmoreArt.com - and I hope you’ll read the entire thing, whether you’re an artist, a woman, a patron, a curator, arts professional (or listen to it via our new audio player).
We are ALL collectors, and I think we should proudly own this distinction, tempering it with the fact that every art acquisition is an investment in an artists’s life or career; every collection is a story that we feel passionately about.
LINK: Making Their Mark, Holding the Line: A Conversation with Komal Shah by Cara Ober at BmoreArt.com
I asked what she believes collections should ultimately do—a question that can veer into abstraction if you let it. “Tell a story,” she said, without hesitation. “That was the advice I received early on: decide what story you want to tell.”
For her, that story has come into focus over time, through instinct, research, risk, and a willingness to challenge the systems that shape value in the first place. “It became clear that the story was about the power, innovation, and resilience of women artists,” she said. “The collection now has its own identity, it guides future acquisitions.”
Sometimes, she added, the clarity is immediate. “I’ll encounter a work and just know: this belongs, or it doesn’t.” In a city like Washington, DC, built on negotiation, that kind of certainty feels almost radical.
It’s incredible to me that this one woman has had such a huge and ambitious vision, and what she has managed to accomplish in just over a decade of collecting! I should mention that Baltimore is represented in the exhibit by Joyce J. Scott and Elizabeth Talford Scott, both included in the Shah Garg Collection, as well as speakers Lowery Sims and Rashida Bumbray, as part of the Forum.
Baltimore-based artists, collectors, patrons, and arts audiences, if Komal Shah can fearlessly tell a global story about women artists, we, too, have the power to collectively tell OUR story, and along with it, shift the culture in Baltimore to cultivate pride in our collections.
I don’t care what kind of art you love and want to live with. I don’t care if you collect stamps or pianos or abstract paintings or decorative historic objects from across the globe (legally procured of course). That you choose to invest your time, money, and energy into human-made objects that thrill your soul means everything; what I want for you is to think more about how this story is shared with others.
Can we agree to take ourselves more seriously in this practice, for the greater good of our arts communities, our arts institutions, and the reputation of our city?
This emphasis on collecting isn’t new at BmoreArt. It’s no secret that we often consult with institutions around acquisitions of Baltimore-based artists. We have long featured articles in our Living With Art series, stories about creatives who collect (accompanied by gorgeous photos), and the overlap between individuals and museums in order to build a lasting legacy for the future.
I want challenge each and every reader to consider your collection differently, to realize that it has an important story to tell. Your clarity or ambivalence directly impacts the objects and artists you adore, and has an impact upon new opportunities for them.
What story are you telling? How is this contributing to our collective knowledge, purpose, and legacy? We have to take our investments seriously if we want to be taken seriously.
Looking ahead: We will be publishing a story about collector Michael Sherman in our next print journal due out at the end of May!
I love reading your concise yet encompassing comments/opinions; it encourages engagement and my own perspective of Art.
Wonderful reflections and observations!