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Caribbean Art and Craft Collecting

A collecting focus and a budget, Caribbean artists, galleries and craft workers found and paid fairly, works shipped, framed and cared for, and a catalogue that records the story of every piece you own.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Caribbean Art and Craft Collecting, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

195

Starter tasks

🌴 Caribbean Life & Diaspora

Caribbean Art and Craft Collecting

Collecting Caribbean art and craft: finding artists and galleries, buying fairly, shipping and framing, and documenting a collection.

  1. Collecting focus for your Caribbean art
  2. Yearly art budget and buying rules
  3. Collection catalogue spreadsheet
  4. Photographing every piece already in the house
  5. Provenance folder for every work
  6. Map of Caribbean galleries, studios and fairs
  7. Light, heat and humidity check for displayed art
  8. Insurance check for art at home
  9. Hanging kit and a safe hanging method
  10. Monthly gallery, studio or exhibition visit
  11. Artist watchlist with prices over time
  12. Art savings pot with a monthly transfer
  13. Quarterly condition check of the collection
  14. Yearly rehang to rest light-sensitive works
  15. Monthly purchase and paperwork catch-up
  16. Yearly valuation and insurance schedule update
  17. Year planner of openings, fairs and art festivals
  18. Annual collection review and next-year plan
  19. Caribbean art history reading list
  20. Haitian art from the Centre d'Art to Croix-des-Bouquets
  21. Jamaican intuitive artists and their place in the canon
  22. Understanding prints, editions and reproductions
  23. Telling handmade craft from imported souvenirs
  24. Inspecting a work before you buy
  25. Studio visit manners and talking about price
  26. Indigenous, Maroon and Indo-Caribbean craft traditions
  27. Contemporary Caribbean and diaspora artists to know
  28. Buying your first original Caribbean work
  29. Commissioning a piece from a Caribbean artist
  30. Fair buying rules for artists and craftspeople
  31. Choosing a framer and archival framing
  32. Buying online and at auction without being scammed
  33. Shipping art safely from the islands
  34. Bringing craft home in your suitcase
  35. Selling, gifting or letting go of a piece
  36. Art-buying trip to one island's art scene
  37. Visiting a regional biennial or national exhibition
  38. Bidding at a charity or specialist art auction
  39. Hosting an evening to meet an artist at home
  40. Lending a work to an exhibition
  41. Collecting well on a small budget
  42. Artist swaps and collecting as a working creative
  43. Documenting inherited family art and craft
  44. Collecting from abroad through remote studio visits
  45. Sharing the collection with children and grandchildren
  46. Moving house or island with a collection
  47. Full provenance research on a significant piece
  48. Formal appraisal and conservation of a major work
  49. Supporting an artist or institution beyond buying
  50. Collection handover file for your family

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Collecting focus for your Caribbean art

Collections that hang together usually have a thread: one island, one medium, one period, or artists from your parents' parish. Writing a short focus statement before the next purchase stops the collection drifting into a pile of holiday souvenirs and gives you a quick way to say no to things that are pleasant but off track.

First tasks

  • Walk round the house and list every Caribbean artwork and craft piece you own
  • Group the list by island, medium and how each piece came to you
  • Draft two possible collecting threads and say each out loud to someone
  • Write the chosen focus in three sentences and save it with the catalogue

Yearly art budget and buying rules

Without a number, art spending either never happens or happens all at once at the end of a good holiday. Setting a yearly ceiling, a maximum for any single piece and a rule for impulse buys lets you say yes to the right work with a clear head, and keeps art money separate from remittances and barrel costs.

First tasks

  • Add up what you spent on art, craft and framing in the last twelve months
  • Agree a yearly art budget with anyone you share money with
  • Write a single-piece ceiling and a cooling-off rule for bigger buys
  • Split the budget into purchase, framing, shipping and insurance lines

Collection catalogue spreadsheet

Ten years on, few collectors can say what they paid for a piece, where it came from or what the artist said about it. A simple catalogue with one row per work, a unique number and the key facts turns a set of objects into a collection you can insure, lend, sell or pass on.

First tasks

  • Set up a spreadsheet with the ten catalogue columns
  • Choose a numbering system and write it at the top of the sheet
  • Enter every work you own, leaving blanks where facts are unknown
  • Pencil each catalogue number on the back of the frame or base
  • Save a backup copy of the catalogue to a second location

Make it yours.

Install Caribbean Art and Craft Collecting, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.