The Austin Arts Membership Changing How the City Collects

This article is produced by TRIBEZA as sponsored content.

Austin is known for doing things its own way. It’s also known for its love of art. Combine the two and you get CoCollect.

CoCollect offers a different approach to collecting artwork: leasing. It’s a win-win for all parties. Its approach offers members an easy way to start living with and experiencing artwork. And it offers Austin a burgeoning group of new patrons. Let’s break it all down.

The Story Behind CoCollect

Austin just does things differently. It builds its own institutions rather than importing them. Here, companies launched out of garages before anyone had a word for it. The music, film and food scenes were all funded and grown locally, mostly by ignoring how other cities said it should work. So why should solving one of the oldest questions — how does anyone start collecting art? — look any different?

According to CoCollect, the traditional path to collecting art asks a great deal of a beginner even if the gallery offers a warm welcome. Often, you are asked to make a permanent decision about a work you have never lived with and then picture it in a room you’re not currently in. Most people freeze.

The barrier is rarely money and almost never taste, according to CoCollect. The real barrier is that a first purchase demands certainty a person has not had a chance to earn. So walls stay empty. In a city this creative, that is strange to accept. It’s a concept CoCollect refuses to settle for.

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Warren Roher’s artwork is shown in a home through CoCollect’s art leasing program. (Photo by Elliot Fuerniss)

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Karen Hawkins’ artwork brings texture and character to the interior through CoCollect’s leasing program. (Photo by Chase Daniels Photography)

How CoCollect Works

CoCollect is a monthly membership that allows members to live with original works by working artists. Every work is selected specifically for each member’s home. Work is sourced from studios, galleries and private collections. Here, leasing is the on-ramp to collecting.

The membership gives Austinites access to great art they can actually live with. It’s high-quality, original work by working artists that instantly brings life to your home, office or other commercial space. But it’s more than just the art itself. Membership also gives members access to competitive primary-market artists, museum-quality artwork, local artists and guidance from an adviser who knows their space and their eye. CoCollect’s advisers get to know each member’s goals and tastes, allowing them to recommend art bespoke to each person.

Plus, living with a piece through leasing gives you the gift of time to experience the art before purchase. You learn what holds up at 7 a.m. and which artistworks spur the best dinner conversations with friends. Leasing allows you to experience artwork in the intimacy of your own home. And it provides connection. A conversation about an artwork at your own dining table with friends is valuable both for your own perception of the work and for exposing that artist to your guests.

CoCollect members also refine their tastes and approach to collecting through the membership. The organization says members love being able to refine their collections after living with artwork and often want to purchase a piece after leasing it for a year while continuing to lease new works. They’re able to purchase with confidence and a connection earned over time by experiencing a piece in their own space.

Finally, members get access to a community of people like them supporting Austin’s art ecosystem in a new way. Membership means joining a group of like-minded people who want to support a creative ecosystem in Austin and beyond. Its members are not passive buyers. They are creative people who care where the work comes from and who made it. And that’s something to be applauded.

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CoCollect offers a monthly art leasing membership designed to help Austinites experience original artwork at home before committing to a purchase. (Photo courtesy of CoCollect. Artist: Drew Bacon)

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CoCollect connects members with original works sourced from artists, galleries and private collections while supporting Austin’s broader art ecosystem. (Photo courtesy of CoCollect. Artists: Denise Prince, Chuck Ramirez)

Why CoCollect’s Mission Matters

As more people live with and experience art, more people become comfortable buying it. More collectors mean more artists are earning and more galleries stay open. The CoCollect membership exists to see the arts in Austin flourish by making it easier to start living with and experiencing great art.

The traditional model asks artists to wait for a single buyer while finished work sits in storage. Membership changes the math. Work circulates. Artists are paid on an ongoing basis before a work sells, instead of waiting months for a single buyer.

It’s a new support structure for artists and very on-brand for Austin. It’s time to say goodbye to empty walls.