What to Do With 400 Paintings: Artist Legacy and Economic Reality with Alissa Quart (243)
Release Date: 10/09/2025
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What to Do With 400 Paintings: Artist Legacy and Economic Reality with Alissa Quart (243)
The Art Biz
When Alissa Quart's 90-year-old mother received a terminal diagnosis, she faced a daunting question: what to do with 400 paintings created over three decades. Her solution was unconventional, distributing the work directly to neighbors, friends, and anyone who wanted to live with her mother's art. The story she shares with host Alyson Stanfield touches on something much larger: what artists actually need to sustain their practice and how we think about legacy when the traditional art world isn't an option. You’ll learn: How to approach inventorying and distributing an artist's work when...
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Host Alyson Stanfield talks with Katie Hunt about the findings from her 2025 State of the Product Industry survey. While Katie’s audience includes product-based artists and makers, many of the themes—pricing pressures, burnout, and the need for stronger systems—apply across the creative sector. They explore what’s really happening behind the scenes of creative businesses right now: why some are thriving while others are closing or stalling, how tariffs are complicating planning and profitability, and the surprising number of businesses still not using email marketing. Katie and Alyson...
info_outlineWhen Alissa Quart's 90-year-old mother received a terminal diagnosis, she faced a daunting question: what to do with 400 paintings created over three decades. Her solution was unconventional, distributing the work directly to neighbors, friends, and anyone who wanted to live with her mother's art.
The story she shares with host Alyson Stanfield touches on something much larger: what artists actually need to sustain their practice and how we think about legacy when the traditional art world isn't an option.
You’ll learn:
- How to approach inventorying and distributing an artist's work when they can no longer do it themselves
- Why affordable housing is critical infrastructure for artists and what happens when creative communities are priced out
- The legal and economic barriers that prevent cities from supporting working artists
- How one New York Times article elevated an artist's work in ways decades of painting couldn't
- When to stop building an artist's legacy and how to set boundaries around the work
HIGHLIGHTS
01:30 Barbara Quart's journey from East Village bohemian to 30 years of daily painting
05:40 The horror story that sparked a mission to honor her mother's wishes
08:20 Looking for external validation through local gallery shows in the Berkshires
10:40 The circumstances that allowed 30 years of sustained art practice
12:50 Why artists need community, not just queen bees but worker ants too
14:40 Legal barriers that restrict housing developments for artists
17:00 How art production creates billions in economic activity
23:10 Starting with an inventory and creating a catalog system
26:30 Women who inherit their husband's art and sacrifice their own lives
29:20 The art destruction party where artists let go of their work
34:10 How one piece in the New York Times changed everything
38:10 Barbara started painting again after the article's positive response
42:00 Collective joy and questioning the myth of individualism
44:00 The promise that consciousness can persist beyond the hand that picked up the brush
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
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Proactively Planning Your Art Legacy with Heather K. Powers (143)
Confronting Your Professional Legacy with David Paul Bayles (15)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/quart-legacy
⭐️ Connect with Alissa: https://alissaquart.com
Learn more about and support the Economic Hardship Reporting Project: https://economichardship.org
Follow Barbara Quart’s art on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbaraquartpainter/
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~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/