If I read one more post about the imploding art market…

Honestly, it’s exhausting. We get it. Big important galleries are shuttering right and left. Sales are down (which is actually not true). Fairs are cancelling. People are running scared. Enough already! Yes, it’s all, mostly, er, somewhat true. Yes, change is hard. Yes, times is tough. But also, the story is much more nuanced than that and a lot of ink has been spilled trying to unpack it. In a nutshell, the system is broken and collector behavior is changing in ways that are forcing the traditionally slow-moving art world to change along with them. Art folks aren’t used to seismic shifts happening quickly. We get our panties in a wad very easily.

To this end, if I’m being fully transparent (which I am), I almost didn’t book my annual fall NYC pilgrimage. It felt pointless. With everyone in a tizzy, I wondered if I could expect to see anything new or if it would just be the same ol’ tried and true bestsellers. I don’t need to spend thousands to see all the SOS all over again. But then I decided I need to see for myself. I wanted to gauge the atmosphere with my own eyes and ears.

I’m off to Armory and Independent next week and will be doing the usual gallery opening gauntlet as well. But I’m also working in a bucket-list studio visit (cue tweenie-meeting-Taylor level excitement) and connecting with gallerists I love on a more personal level. After I recalibrated my expectations and changed my goals for the trip, I became actually really excited to go!

And if you’re wondering where I’ve been the last 3 months, I’ve been quietly toiling away on a brand new way to offer my art advisory services at scale. While I’ve been trying to solve this equation for the last four years, I actually started doing something about it in January. In a few short weeks, ArtISawAndLiked.com will go live and (hopefully!) revolutionize art advisory for the casual collector. Think if Artsy and my personalized recommendations to clients had a baby. So stay tuned for more exciting announcements around that coming soon!

That’s enough rambling, you’re here for the art. And art you shall have. Check out the featured art panel to see five artists I’m looking forward to discovering IRL next week.

And in other news, CMAA’s refreshed website went live Thursday afternoon and I couldn’t be more proud of it and the team at Shark and Minnow for producing such great work. Lauren, Eric, Hallie, and the gang are true pros! So much happening over here. Happy (almost) fall yall!