Print Or Digital

The best friend-turned-executor of a remarkable, little-known photographer faced the challenge of preserving a voluminous print and digital legacy. The artist’s family had no ability to retain or promote their father’s works. How to preserve and generate interest in a legacy that would otherwise be lost?

POBA reviewed the entire digital and physical collection of thousands of pre- and post-digital files, implemented a plan to digitize the “best of” images and retain selected works handled by the photographer, create displays on POBA, market the works to commercial and private collectors, donate selected works, and properly dispose of the rest to protect copyrights and value. The estate can now close this aspect of its work confident the artist’s legacy has been preserved and will grow in recognition.

A Witness To History

A veteran’s widow wanted to preserve a large collection of nearly 1200 letters she and her husband had exchanged during WWII. These were lovingly stored in shoe boxes around her house, unseen and unread by others but dog-eared from her repeated reading over 50 years. Little did the family know some letters shed new light on history of great significance. Could the letters be saved, shared and if so, how?

Giving Away a Lifetime of Art

An artist created a thorny problem by leaving a will requiring that his art works be donated in full to a single non-profit to use to achieve its mission. No non-profit had been identified, cultivated or prepared to receive this 500-work collection by the artist before he died. How could his personal representative meet this legal obligation?

POBA catalogued the entire collection and evaluated the 500 works to develop a list of potential recipients. POBA identified and cultivated an appropriate non-profit and arranged for disposition, donation and display of the entire collection after creating a full digital record. The personal representative was able to close the estate successfully, having fulfilled the terms of the artist’s will.

A Diplomat’s Dilemma

A career diplomat collected more than 1000 works of museum quality tribal and ethnic arts from around the world, kept at her home in a remote area. The collection was both large and eclectic. While many items were personally valuable, she wasn’t sure of their market value and had no viable way to identify and coordinate the services of the many experts needed. Without help, she faced their haphazard disposition.

POBA created a 360° plan for her works, engaged the experts and oversaw the project to inventory, photo-document, catalog, and appraise the specialty collections, as well as advise on a donation/sales strategy. The retiree is now confident knowing the collection is in hand and the project will be completed properly.