As part of our “Ask Me Anything” series, Ninth Street Collective is pleased to host Yelena Ambartsumian for a candid conversation about her experiences as a young collector and arts advocate. Yelena is an avid collector of works by emerging artists, an expert on art law topics and the founder of OrigenArt.com, a platform for contemporary art collectors. Here’s your chance to ask questions “off the record” about how collectors discover artists to collect, the decision-making process in buying artwork and how collectors build relationships with artists. Yelena and Melinda will speak about their experiences in the New York art world and you will be able to ask them about anything on your mind in a small group setting.
The workshop will be hosted on Zoom. Attendees will receive a Zoom link via email.
A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice.
Tickets: $30
Early bird pricing: $20 through September 15 with code NSC20
Purchase ticket: LINK
Yelena Ambartsumian is a New York-based lawyer and founder of OrigenArt.com, a platform for contemporary art collectors. Her experiences as a young collector have been documented in “Two Art Collectors Who Caught Each Other’s Eyes,” NY Times, Style Section (Feb. 22, 2019), and “Spotlight: On Collecting Works of Art,” Art Spiel (Dec. 9, 2019). She has also authored several publications on art law topics, including on collectors’ due diligence and copyright infringement, and has assisted emerging contemporary artists in a pro bono capacity. Yelena is passionate about connecting collectors, meeting and learning about new artists, and building a more transparent art market.
Melinda Wang is an independent curator and Founder and Principal of MW Projects, a cultural production and art advisory firm dedicated to bringing contemporary art to historic sites, non-traditional venues and liminal spaces. Large-scale projects include contemporary art exhibitions on Roosevelt Island, aboard the S.S. Lilac (a 1933 steamship) and in an 1897 French Gothic building in midtown Manhattan. She was previously the Executive Director of New York Artists Equity Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1947 to promote opportunities for artists, and founded Equity Gallery (Artists Equity’s art space on the Lower East Side) in 2015. Melinda has curated or produced over 30 contemporary art exhibitions since 2010, with a focus on emerging artists and socially-engaged projects.