Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I'm a Victim of Art Theft ?!

I had an absolutely spectacular time at the weekend Design workshop; I'm trying to collect my thoughts and get my photos ready for you to see.

Meanwhile, I just got a call from Deb Hunter, sounding somber and serious, to tell me the scarf on the far left was stolen on Saturday! And just that piece from the entire exhibition.


Deb was flabbergasted when I chuckled and told her this would make an interesting blog post. I can't help myself; I think it's kind of funny.

8 comments:

  1. a well dressed thief with excellent taste. still, how annoying.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can you imagine if they would have been caught? I'm sorry for the loss of your beautiful scarf, time and materials that were taken from you. I had someone steal one of my woven shawls and was quite upset, until I realized, they thought it was worth stealing. I was still upset, but kind of honored, I know sounds strange, but there was nothing I could do about it. The gallery might need to invest in some theft devices like the department stores have, I know tacky, but maybe necessary. BTW I love your blog, alway inspirational.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A good attitude for an unfortunate circumstance. You could also consider it a compliment---though actually purchasing it might be even more of a compliment..... In any case, I am sorry, but I am glad you are not losing sleep over it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Taueret, annoying, exctly. Whereas every other exhibit I've been involved with stated clearly that insurance was the artists' responsibility, this one didn't even mention the word, so this newbie thought, "Well, that's nice; when you're invited to submit, they even take care of all that!" Turns out the cost I was asking is a fraction of their policy excess, so a sincerest nicest verbal apology may be all I'm getting at this point.

    Welcome, Deep End of the Loom, and thanks. They said they were having security camera people come in yesterday afternoon. They also have a huge back door that's always open, and now a sculpture garden on the side, so there are many ways of getting in and out of the place, I don't think the number of staff & volunteers can cope with the possibility of these incidents even with cameras. I know I felt uneasy when I subbed for a volunteer one morning.

    Peg, this place started out as a community-environmental-unemployment-buster kind of a place, and they still have quite a few people who would never go into an art gallery walk through, which is part of the attraction of the gallery. But as they transform themselves from a work-providing place to a "nice" gallery, there are quite a few things they need to look at more closely, and this is one of them, and I had to bear the brunt of that process.

    When you think of exhibiting as a business transaction, I am highly annoyed they think a sincere sorry would suffice; but they are as broke as I am, they've just lost a long-time employee, and I really really want to support their transition, so I can't decide if I should ask for some kind of a compensation.

    I must be feeling Easterly, eh, everybody?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm not so sure I would feel flattered or amused if one of my items had been stolen. Just think, the person who stole your scarf is probably not going to treat it with TLC. And what if you saw the person wearing it - what would you think?? oh, there goes my scarf. I think I would be mad. I like my handwoven or handknit items to go to loving homes and I'm not sure that theft=love. My commiserations to you from across the miles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't think anyone's equated theft with love here, Janet, but I am amused, among other things, not exactly flattered.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, it's a heart break no matter how one looks at it. Our weaving is like a part of ourselves in some ways; we put so much time, thought, and energy into each piece. I don't suppose anyone had any insurance.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, Leigh. The gallery had insurance, but my piece was below their excess amount. But they've just agreed to pay me the asking price of the scarf minus their normal commission, so this is the best outcome of a sad situation.

    Let this be a lesson, weavers - for exhibitions, let's make big stuff so they can't just shove them in their purses or pockets!!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments. Thank you for taking the time to leave one. But do be sure to leave your real or blog name.