Fine Art Adoption Network

Fine Art Adoption Network (FAAN) is a website that exists for the exchange of art for trust: www.fineartadoption.net. Put simply, artists in the network bestow an artwork to the individual they deem makes the best case for collecting it. Put technically, FAAN functions as a web posting board for artwork that is up for adoption, and as a discussion platform for artists and its prospect collectors. FAAN is initiated by Brooklyn-based visual artist Adam Simon, and commissioned by Art in General.

Sustained by the belief that critical cultural production entails re-imagining the ways in which art can be experienced and shared, FAAN’s goals are to give committed artists a platform to share their artwork with an audience interested in owning and experiencing it day after day; to give people the occasion of learning about contemporary art, as well as the way to enter into a direct dialogue with an artist. As a posting board, FAAN is also a collection of artworks in itself that, like a museum or an exhibition, has the potential of creating new knowledge about art and its experience, and a new type of audience, a community created from a dialogue about art and trust, and, evidently, social exchange.

Since its launch in April 2006, over one hundred artists have created accounts, more than 500 people are participating as adopters, and dozens of adoptions of contemporary art work have taken place. Between July 2 and September 30, 2006, FAAN recorded more than 80,010 visitors.

To continually expand the network of FAAN, Art in General has engaged a number of organizations to collaborate by inviting artists to join the network and by creating programs to engage new audiences and create potential adopters. Aside from Art in General, these other six organizations are FAAN Collaborators:

Arthouse
The mission of Arthouse is to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists in Texas.

Artspace
Artspace is an artist- and volunteer-run contemporary arts non-profit in New Haven, CT whose mission is to catalyze artistic efforts, connect artists, audiences, and resources, and redefine “art spaces.

Delta Axis
Since its inception over fourteen years ago, Delta Axis has been the only non-profit organization in Memphis, TN dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, consequently fulfilling a crucial role in one of the most creative and exciting arts communities in the South.

Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago
As the center for art exhibition and discourse at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Gallery 400 supports innovations in contemporary art, design and architecture through exhibitions, the Voices lecture series and special projects.

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
As a unique educational institution, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits works of modern and contemporary art, architecture and design.

Transformer
Transformer is a nonprofit, artist-centered arts organization in Washington, D.C. that connects and promotes emerging artists within regional, national, and international contexts.

The Fine Art Adoption Network, initiated by visual artist Adam Simon, is commissioned by Art in General.

Art in General and Adam Simon thank the artists who are participating in FAAN by generously donating their work and engaging with the public to make these art adoptions possible. Thanks also to the FAAN Collaborators, to date, for inviting artists to join the network and engaging new audiences and creating potential adopters; and, many thanks to John Weir for the continuous and regular maintenance and development of the site, and to Kaye Scholer LLC and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts for their legal support.

The Fine Art Adoption Network by Adam Simon is part of Art in General’s New Commissions Program, which is made possible by The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities; the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; and the Booth Ferris Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts; Peter Norton Family Foundation; The Greenwall Foundation; Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; Jerome Foundation; and George Mills.

From the Book
David Trigg’s essay: Not For Sale