NEW YORK, NY.- Sean Kelly premiered a provocative new media campaign designed to encourage lively discussion around the topic of collecting and connoisseurship. Launched May 2nd, Collect Wisely’s aim is to question the art world status quo and an increasing preoccupation with short-term monetary interests, to refocus the dialogue around core values centered upon art, artists, a passion for collecting and issues of connoisseurship.

Collect Wisely asks what it means to be a collector today, if that has changed over time, and where the future of collecting is headed. Issues of patronage, connoisseurship, emotional connectivity, and engagement with a long-term historical view are traditionally of central concern to collectors. How are these mores shifting? Collect Wisely is a call to action, a far-reaching initiative geared toward bringing together individuals, institutions, and galleries to build a vital community and inspire future generations to focus on a wide-ranging and meaningful investment in culture.

This dynamic initiative includes print and digital platforms, social media outreach, and artist-led events. An integral component of the campaign will be a monthly podcast series in which a diverse array of collectors will be interviewed about their passion for art and the motivations and enthusiasms that guide their personal stories. These informal conversations will be hosted on the new Collect Wisely section of skny.com and select podcast sharing platforms. Another integral element, beginning in the Fall of 2018, will be the Collect Wisely Artist Table, a series of artist-curated dinners held at the gallery. Each of these intimate dinners will include collectors, writers, curators, and cultural leaders and will be documented in a major forthcoming publication.

The first podcast with renowned collector J. Tomilson Hill is live on the site, listen to a teaser on the Collect Wisely site here. In this inaugural episode, Mr. Hill discusses what connoisseurship means to him, the role of the collector, his personal approach and advice to those starting to collect.