Who We Are
Schwartzman& offers comprehensive advisory services to the full spectrum of individuals and organizations, private and public, involved in forming, assessing, or rethinking the possibilities of art collections.
Housed in New York City’s Dia Art Foundation building and led by advisor, curator and critic Allan Schwartzman, S& is committed to a highly personal, dialogue-based process of serving its clients, providing a new and more elastic model of what an art advisory service can do and how it may function.
In addition to providing the highest level of traditional advisory services to art collectors, S& is an incubator for the short and long term health and evolution of a rapidly changing art ecosystem. S& has developed this expansive role in response to a wide range of clients who are seeking new ways to experience and collect art, engage in philanthropic giving and participate in productive change.
What We Do
Collector Advisory
For individuals and entities building and managing nascent and mature collections, as well as for those seeking innovative approaches to refining their collection.
Artist Advisory
For living artists and artists' estates, with services complementary to existing galleries and professional support teams, with a special emphasis on legacy planning and implementation.
Museum Advisory
For existing institutions on the frontline of change and for individuals, municipalities and other entities seeking to create innovative museum models and destination cultural centers.
Philanthropic Advisory
For both individual patrons and beneficiary organizations that serve the development of art and ideas.
Civic and Cultural Initiatives Advisory
For public and private entities engaged in conceiving and realizing ambitious development projects with art at their core.
Content Platforms for the Field
For all stakeholders and the public: S& generated content on the Art& platform including podcasts, a newsletter and interactive discussions in collaboration with veteran journalist Charlotte Burns, with an Advisory Board including Deana Haggag, Mia Locks and Jay Sanders.
S& Projects
For the broader art public: external curatorial projects undertaken by members of our team in close collaboration with galleries and other independent entities.
Collector Advisory
The defining trait of our collector advisory practice is the high level of thought and attention that we devote to each client’s individual needs. This thoroughly personalized approach is informed by deep and wide-ranging industry expertise, research, and scholarship, which together establish the foundation upon which singular, superior collections are built. We pride ourselves on being thought partners and forecasters, aligning client priorities with the highest level of access and incomparable insight and frequently operating ahead of the market in identifying value and opportunity. While the scope of each engagement is highly customized, our services include collection conception, assessment, guidance, strategy, negotiation, management and refinement —all undertaken with the utmost sensitivity and discretion.
Artist Advisory
Extensive art world experience and trusted relationships with artists, collectors, galleries, museums, scholars and philanthropic organizations guide us in understanding how the art ecosystem works, how it is changing, and how best to support artists and estates within this shifting landscape. Our thoroughly collaborative approach ensures guidance that is highly attuned to the individual needs and characters of artists and their endeavors.
We advise on short-term engagements as well as longer-term planning, implementation, and management. Areas of specialization include strategic planning, commissions and special projects, secondary market development, curatorial work and scholarship and, especially, legacy and estate planning.
Philanthropic Advisory
Our philanthropic advisory is dedicated to the belief that innovative giving should be personalized and appropriate to its moment, sensitively fulfilling the needs of philanthropists and philanthropic organizations and those that benefit from them. This approach provides the basis for clear, versatile, and sustainable models of giving, designed to maximize impact while adhering to the core vision and values by which they were conceived. We work with individual patrons as well as public and private entities to develop a philanthropic philosophy tailored to their specific affinities and needs, and to develop a strategy for implementation across limited-time projects or ongoing initiatives. The scope of this practice includes advising on thematic, artist-focused, and collection-based programs that can be either location-specific or broadly applicable, along with offering guidance on legacies and planning.
Civic Advisory and Cultural Initiatives
Our civic advisory and cultural initiatives practice focuses on conceiving and executing one-of-a-kind development initiatives with art at their core. Our work in this field is highly customizable, approaching each project with close attention to its specific goals, potential, conditions and opportunities. We are collaborators first and foremost, responding to the client’s priorities while capturing, maintaining and articulating a clear sense of the project’s sensibility and spirit, in order to integrate art thoughtfully and meaningfully into the larger creative vision. Our team has broad experience across the full spectrum of the art world and has managed ambitious projects for an array of public and private entities. We are equipped to provide creative direction and oversight of multi-component initiatives that span stakeholders including architects, designers and other creative consultants, so the client can achieve a cohesive concept and ensure its thorough and consistent implementation.
We are expert in commissioning work from artists across generations, nationalities, sites, purposes, and types of work and specialize in identifying and championing next-generation artists capable of working on the cutting edge of public art. We cultivate deep relationships with artists and commissioning entities by supporting both sides throughout the entire lifecycle of a project—from initial conception to public unveiling—and have found particular success in tapping into an individual artist’s creativity to benefit fully from how they think and create. This approach often elicits the greatest of that artist’s potential, resulting in some of the most ambitious art projects of our time.
Museum Advisory
Our museum advisory service works with public and private institutions to address the changing needs of organizations and publics in the evolving cultural climate. Our clients include both established and emerging museums. For the latter, we provide guidance and strategic vision to create distinctive, forward-looking identities, ensuring that the institutions are true to the spirit of their founders and to the communities that sustain them.
We pride ourselves on truly collaborating with our clients to produce clear, actionable recommendations. Our aim is to address the specific requirements of organizations and provide them with the tools and guidance to make decisions that are right for their leadership, staff, community, and constituents. This approach is informed by critical, qualitative analysis across a spectrum of needs, including spatial and site planning, staffing and organizational evaluation, operating models, benchmarking, strategic planning and mission building, curatorial and programmatic goals, fundraising, partnerships and comprehensive collection development.