Announcing Commissioner Season Four
COMMUNITY-LED ART COLLECTING PROGRAM FOSTERS ACCESS AND COLLABORATION
Commissioner, a hyperlocal membership program that helps new art collectors begin their collections and support Miami-based artists, launches Season Four this fall. As arts organizations and institutions seek ways to cultivate support from community audiences, Commissioner’s model embraces collaboration, learning and personal connection to empower more people to become invested in the arts. Memberships for Season Four are now available on a first-come, first-served basis before virtual orientation on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 6 PM or until spots are gone at commissioner.us.
For a $1,500 subscription, up to 40 Collector-level members receive four new limited edition artworks per year and access curated events with artists, experts and fellow collectors to build the knowledge they need to collect art with more confidence. For $75, locals can purchase a Patron-level membership to participate in monthly programming that explores different approaches to collecting, the artistic process, and healthier systems for supporting the local art ecosystem.
“How do you build community at a time like this? Over the years, and especially in the past 18 months, we’ve learned that community isn’t about a place. It’s about a feeling belonging and accessibility,” said Commissioner co-founder Dejha Carrington. “This season we will continue leaning into our ability to engage members where they are. Whether it’s with online events, for parents to share experiences with their children, or for past members who rejoin every year to deepen their knowledge, we’re offering diverse entry points for people to get involved and support the artists and arts organizations making our Miami.”
Since introducing the program in September 2018, Commissioner has commissioned more than 30 artists and collaborate with more than 40 organizations, spaces and creatives around Miami. A new partnership with New World School of the Arts made possible by Mitchell Wolfson Sr Foundation will underwrite a second NWSA alumni artist commission in 2021-2022, and aims to connect Commissioner’s emerging art collector base with the next generation of visual artists and photographers. The first commission of the partnership, a memorial exhibition A Reflection of the Times by NWSA alumna Chire “VantaBlack” Regans, will remain on view through December 31, 2021 at Bakehouse Art Complex, and is accompanied by a catalog demonstrating the ways that archives and memory advance social justice and healing.
"Commissioner is cultivating Miami's art community by showing regular people how they can get in the game, instead of watching from the sidelines. Most importantly, it has shown me that your love for art is more important than your bank account when it comes to beginning your collection,” said Richard Guzman, a Collector from season one who first learned about Commissioner from a news article.
Through a curatorial partnership with Primary, and a media partnership with The New Tropic newsletter and Art Loft on South Florida PBS (WPBT), Commissioner is expressly tapping broader, civically-engaged audiences to introduce approachable narratives about collectors and artists commissioned by the program. Local filmmakers and videographers are integral to Commissioner’s efforts to lower perceived barriers of entry to arts patronage and champion the essential contributions of artists to society. Through storytelling, Commissioner catalyzes audiences into maintaining relationships with artists, purchasing new work on their own, and considering how their investment in Miami’s creative class impacts their personal quality of life and the opportunities available to their community. More art sales and connections are taking place outside of Commissioner as a direct result of the program, too, signaling a promising ripple effect.
Commissioner was launched with the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Knight Arts Challenge, which funds the best ideas for bringing South Florida together through the arts. Commissioner is also supported by Mitchell Wolfson Sr Foundation and Tito's Handmade Vodka. The Miami Foundation and Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator are fiscal sponsors.
More About Commissioner
Founded in 2018, Commissioner is a membership program that connects locals to some of the most gifted contemporary artists in Miami. When you join as a Collector, you receive new, limited-edition artwork every quarter, and visit artist studios, collector homes and unexpected spaces throughout the city. More significantly, you join a community invested in locals reimagining our Miami. Commissioner was co-founded by Dejha Carrington and Rebekah Monson. For more information and to sign up for the newsletter, visit commissioner.us. On Instagram: @cmxnr.