BROOKLYN, NY.- The Association of Professional Art Advisors, the sole organization to promote standards and provide guidelines for ethical art advisory practice, has elected Wendy Cromwell (Principal, Cromwell Art, New York) President. Newly-elected fellow officers include Vice – President, Elizabeth Szancer Kujawski (ESKart LLC, New York), Secretary, Lisa Austin (President, Lisa Austin & Associates, Miami), and Treasurer, Megan Fox Kelly (Megan Fox Kelly Art Advisory, New York). New APAA Board members include Todd Levin (Levin Art Group, New York, Jennifer A. Duncan (Director, Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, Washington, DC), Kay Childs (Topol Childs Art Advisory, New York) and Ana Sokoloff (sokoloff + associates, New York)

They join the current board: Robin Anthony (Curator, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto); Jean Efron (Efron Associates, Washington, DC); Suzanne Gyorgy (Director, Citi Private Bank Art Advisory, New York); and Lowell Pettit (Pettit Art Partners, New York).

The organization salutes Michelle Isenberg (Isenberg & Associates, Los Angeles) who is completing a four-year term as president. “Michelle has guided APAA through a critical time of growth and she’s provided the leadership to strengthen the organization” says Wendy Cromwell, President-Elect of APAA and a New York-based art advisor who works with private collectors. “We are well-positioned to take on new initiatives to make APAA better known within the broader art community and to educate the public as to what constitutes a qualified art advisor.”

APAA, founded in 1980, is comprised of qualified independent art advisors and corporate art curators who acquire, maintain and present art on behalf of private and public collections. Our members are required to adhere to specific standards of practice that promote ethical work. APAA’s affiliates are individuals and companies, such as appraisers, auctioneers, conservators, insurance providers, shippers/handlers and registrars, who support art advisors and corporate art curators in their practice. Membership is by invitation.

“APAA is dedicated to fostering excellence in the art advisory field by stressing expertise and integrity as well as education,” says New York advisor Wendy Cromwell. “We are not private dealers and we do not maintain inventories of art for sale. We are neutral advocates on behalf of our clients. APAA seeks art advisors and private collection curators to join the organization based on a shared expert knowledge of the art market and that individual’s proven success in designated areas of connoisseurship, scholarship and ethical practice. Our goal is to build a strong membership organization of art advisors in the United States and abroad who share these values.”