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| Posted: Thu Dec 6th, 2012 10:33 am |
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1st Post |
AdamMcLean
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As I am approaching the established retiral age of 65, and know that I cannot expect to be able to sustain my intense workload for more than another five years or so, I am becoming increasingly aware that I have to make some provision to preserve my work on the art of modern tarot. Most people will understand that I am not your usual sort of collector. I have not done this as an investment, waiting till the prices of rare items have risen in order to sell later. I also have collected in order to study and document tarot art, so my collection is not skewed by personal preferences, but truly represents tarot art from the 1960's onwards.
I have two problems to solve.
Firstly, what to do with my collection when I die or become unable to work with it further. I have explored the possibilities of donating it to some institution but they inevitably raise the matter of a considerable endowment to help with the costs of conservation and making this available for public consultation. Such an endowment is beyond my means. At the moment, in the case of my death, my executors would have no alternative but to sell the collection off item by item.
Secondly, as I have to continue to earn my living from publishing my books, I find I have very little free time to devote to developing and researching the material in my collection. I have only been able to produce a detailed description of less than half the items in my collection.
It is obvious I need help with cataloguing and researching this material. I cannot afford to employ someone, even part time, to assist me in this.
The only solution I can see to these two key problems is to seek financial support from the wider community of people interested in the artwork of modern tarot. Of course people will not give an individual such as myself money to use as they will, so I am minded in months ahead to explore the possibility of creating a Centre for Tarot Art and actively seeking financial support for this. Should sufficient support be available I would be willing to donate my collection to this Centre for Tarot Art. The funds could be used in a number of ways:-
* Part of the funding would be used in the first year to employ someone to complete the descriptive catalogue.
* A core funding would be invested in order to provide an endowment to an institution, such as a library or museum, in order that the collection could be preserved. Given my age I would expect this would have to happen within the next ten years.
* Part of the funding could be used to promote interest in the artwork of modern tarot, through issuing a scholarly Journal exploring the many aspects of tarot art, or by organising conferences and exhibitions on the theme.
I have tried to find a wealthy individual to come forward to support this idea, but to date have not found such a sponsor. Some people have suggested I use systems such as Kickstarter to try to raise such funds. My collection of 2500 items is probably worth close to £100,000 ($150,000). I estimate that the minimum funds required to establish a modest Centre for Tarot Art (limited to researching and preserving the collection) would be around £50,000 ($75,000). Anything less than this would not see the project through to fulfillment. Funding above this figure would probably allow for the organisation of publications, conferences and exhibition projects.
I would welcome any suggestions as to raising funding, and possible contacts with individuals who might be able to help financially.
Sadly there is no museum or centre for tarot art in the English speaking world. I have the material but not the resources to create this. I need help with such a project.
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| Posted: Thu Dec 6th, 2012 11:22 am |
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2nd Post |
AdamMcLean
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To help with the establishing of such a project I have set up a Facebook page Centre for Tarot Art as a means of publicising it.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Centre-for-Tarot-Art/499577393397829
Perhaps people here could add it to their friends list.
As I do not have much time to maintain a Facebook page, I am looking for a Facebook savvy volunteer to assist me with developing this.Last edited on Thu Dec 6th, 2012 11:24 am by AdamMcLean
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| Posted: Thu Dec 6th, 2012 10:41 pm |
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3rd Post |
truelighth
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It may be an idea to contact Frank Jensen about this subject as well. I know he is in the process of donating his collection to a university in Denmark to preserve it. He may have some ideas for you for the future.
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| Posted: Fri Dec 7th, 2012 11:46 am |
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4th Post |
gregory
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He IS ? The version I heard was otherwise.... That IS interesting.
ETA - yes - I had heard his collection was to be part of this thing:
Tarot Professionals Trust
Is that not true ?
ETA - oh; I gather not.
Last edited on Fri Dec 7th, 2012 05:42 pm by gregory
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| Posted: Fri Dec 7th, 2012 11:45 pm |
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5th Post |
truelighth
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gregory wrote: He IS ? The version I heard was otherwise.... That IS interesting.
ETA - yes - I had heard his collection was to be part of this thing:
Tarot Professionals Trust
Is that not true ?
ETA - oh; I gather not.
I had some computer problems, so I lost the e-mail that he wrote to me with the information on it.
He did originally intent for his collection to go to some trust or something. Or some institution, can't remember which. But he was not happy with the way things were handled. From what I remember he is now donating the collection to a local university and made arrangements there.
But unfortunally I lost the e-mail with more information on it...
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| Posted: Sat Dec 8th, 2012 06:26 am |
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6th Post |
nicole
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Adam let me know how or if I can help on the Facebook front - what do you need/ see coming out of that venue? I would be happy to assist...
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| Posted: Thu Dec 13th, 2012 09:54 am |
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7th Post |
AdamMcLean
Member
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Some ten years ago I began seriously collecting tarot cards and artwork. This grew out of my interest in
allegorical and emblematic art. Now in 2012, I have about 2500 items in my collection which
is recognised as currently the largest and most comprehensive in the world. I have not been selective
but gathered everything I could afford. I have recently realised that I have in my hands an almost
complete documentation of the artwork found in modern tarot designs.
I am concerned now to find some way to preserve this collection as a scholarly resource documenting
the amazing phenomenon that is tarot art. To this end I intend to set up a Centre for Tarot Art,
a body which can act to preserve the collection and avoid it being broken up and sold off piecemeal
when I die.
The Centre for Tarot Art will require some substantial funding. This is unlikely to come through the
established world of government art funds, as most art historians at present seem unwilling to recognise the genre
of tarot art and instead dismiss it as ephemera. This is partly because they have not been able to examine and appreciate
the breadth of artwork found in modern tarot. There are no public collections of tarot art, which is ignored by
most museums, libraries and special collections, so access to tarot artwork remains in the hands of individual
collectors. My collection could provide a foundation for scholarly studies of the material if it could be
kept together and made available to the public.
In the longer term, substantial funding would be necessary to endow the collection so it could be gifted to
some museum or library. This would probably require a large sum of around £100,000 ($160,000) which the
receiving institution would invest to provide a modest income stream to help pay for the costs of conservation
and making the material publicly accessible. As I am 64 this cannot be left indefinitely, and I would hope to be
able to find some solution within the next five years.
In the medium term, there are a number of projects that could be undertaken to research the material I
have at hand and to promote interest in tarot art. It is essential to have a descriptive catalogue made of all the items.
I have already created such descriptive entries for just over one thousand items, but as I have to earn a living through
my publications, this is taking too long as I cannot devote the time to it. I feel that it would be best to try to
find someone to undertake this. It might suit an art history student as a summer job. This would probably cost about
£2000. There are many educational projects I can think of that could be undertaken to try and promote interest in
the artwork, exhibitions, conferences, publications, which would require similar modest funding.
If this project fails to raise the necessary funding, then in the closing years of my life I will have no
alternative but to return the material to the tarot collecting community through selling off items piecemeal.
This would be a missed opportunity.
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| Posted: Thu Dec 13th, 2012 03:06 pm |
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8th Post |
gregory
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What about the Playing Card Museum in Issy ? I wouldn't be surprised if they would take on the whole collection. They have a lot of tarot decks there too - beautifully displayed in ideal conditions.
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| Posted: Thu Dec 13th, 2012 03:32 pm |
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9th Post |
AdamMcLean
Member
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Yes I will be looking at that possibility, though
I am not sure if I want tarot art work subsumed into
general playing card art, which, it seems to me, has
very different sources of inspiration.
I would also prefer my collection to remain in the
English speaking world.
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14th, 2012 11:53 am |
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10th Post |
gregory
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They do have huge areas of the place given over entirely to tarot. I know what you mean about the English speaking world - but I'd personally rather see it in France than the US...
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