AAWR: Helping Artists Take Control

Artists by their nature are prolific. They often leave hundreds or thousands of pieces behind when they die, and these works pose unique challenges for those who are left in charge of their estates. Works of art may be challenging to dispose of due to emotional ties, or perceived present or future monetary value. Storing, inventorying (which may include appraising), and marketing this work is costly. Many families are left bewildered about how to proceed when facing the difficulties of trying to do the right thing. Some artists maintain an attitude of “I won’t be around so what do I care?” In the end, this is a naïve and selfish approach.

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve (AAWR) was founded by artists for the benefit of artists, and it provides one way for artists and their families to determine what will happen to their legacies both now and after they have passed. There are other steps that artists can and should take on their own, while they are alive, to make these choices easier for those left to deal with whatever they leave behind. In 2025 AAWR, through our Art Bites programming, debuts a new series of Legacy workshops meant to help artists and their families with all aspects of the planning necessary to preserve artistic legacies.

This series of nine in-person workshops, led by artist and community activist Gina Washington, features Cleveland-area experts who cover these concepts: Organizing and Documenting, Preservation, Legal and Financial Considerations, Exhibition and Publicity, Sharing Your Story, Engaging with Art Communities, Creating a Legacy Plan, and Digital Archiving. In addition, AAWR will host three Death Dinners led by a death doula. Inspired by the “Death Café” movement begun in England in 2011 “to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives,” Death Cafés have developed into a worldwide “social franchise” where people, often strangers, gather to eat and drink and discuss death, dying, and facing mortality.

Confronting the impermanence of our lives is never easy, but conversations around this issue are important and there are things that we, as artists, can do now to take control of the more permanent works we leave behind, and ease the burden of making choices for those we love.

ARTISTS ARCHIVES OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
1834 East 123rd Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
artistsarchives.org
216.721.9020

EVENTS:
Continuing Conversations: Regional Printmakers and Artists of the Archives of the Western Reserve, through March 22
Karen Beckwith: Remnants, Inaugural Solo Exhibition as an Archived Artist, through March 22
Common Currents, curated by Kyle Butler and Grace Chin, April 11–June 21. This large travelling exhibition is held at both the Burchfield Penney Art Center of Buffalo, NY, and the AAWR
Legacy workshop—Preservation, presented by ICA (Intermuseum Conservation Assiciation), March, exact date TBD
Legacy workshop—Legal and Financial Considerations, presented by Todd Masuda, April, exact date TBD
Common Currents in the Cleveland Arts Economy, May, exact date TBD. Panel discussion focusing on Arts in a changing economy in Cleveland: Jeremy Johnson, Rhonda Brown, Hilary Gent, moderator Michael Gill
A CIA Alumni Exhibition curated by Mary Urbas, June 13–August 9. Bostwick Design Center Gallery, 2729 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland