Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Monda.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I went to college knowing I wanted to study art history but not really understanding what the job market looked like on the other side of that degree. Perhaps it was a lack of creativity but working at a gallery or an auction house just felt like the logical next step. Turns out I LOVE the auction world! I spent my early career at Christie’s and Hindman before pursuing my MA at Case, teaching at CIA, and then starting my advisory practice in 2021. I never dreamed I would end up in Cleveland with a passion for the art collecting community here. Thanks to our world-class arts institutions like CMA and moCa, I think Clevelanders have an innate sense of and appreciation for great art but difficulty when it comes to buying art within a private collecting budget. We are not all living with Monet and Pollock! My goal is to show people that great art exists in many forms and at all price points. I’m here to help you find it!
This year, I am actually pushing this passion even further to extend my knowledge and expertise to collectors across the country with a new email newsletter. My weekly newsletter posted to Substack but delivered straight to inboxes speaks to that novice collector who has a budget of $10,000 or less to spend on art. I offer actionable art-buying advice, hot tips on emerging artists, and insights into the art world all in a 4-minute read. All of the art featured in this space retails for under $10k. I am really excited about this project and the potential it has to reach the underserved collectors living outside of New York and LA.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I started my advisory in April 2021 so the biggest struggle was launching a business during a global pandemic. At the time it felt like we were coming out of it. I did not know what a long road we still had to go! In hindsight, I realize that the initial struggle really taught me about staying the course and thinking strategically. For a business that relies upon networking and word of mouth, quarantine and isolation spell certain doom. I had to get really comfortable with cold calling and making virtual connections with people I had never met! It also allowed me the necessary time to work out the kinks that come with starting from scratch, so in retrospect, it was a total blessing to have started a business in the middle of the pandemic.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Casey Monda Art Advisory?
I am an art advisor and work primarily with emerging contemporary art from around the world. What does that mean? Well, I like to describe my job like an art collecting sherpa. I both guide the journey and manage the heavy lifting that can come with collecting art. By guide the journey, I mean that I help collectors define a course or a path for building their art collection so that it will stand the test of time, resonate with them on many levels, and bring the space it inhabits to life. I offer both expertise on young and emerging artists who have potential for great careers as well as opinions on more established artists with the end goal of creating an individualized collection as unique as the collector’s fingerprint. And as your art sherpa, I also handle the logistics like shipping, framing, installation, and conservation on individual pieces as well as general collection oversight.
The funnest part is that I work with collectors at all stages of the journey—from the novice collector who has never purchased a piece of art to seasoned collectors buying blue chip work. I really love finding that perfect gem for a new collector and watching them light up when it is installed in their home! There is nothing better than replacing generic decorator art with fine art that speaks to the soul and watching a literal transformation take place before your very eyes. It is magical!
With two degrees in art history, I am capable and comfortable with aiding in acquisitions of historical work (and I love getting to exercise that muscle), but I find most of my clients want to collect work that tells the story of the now, of their own time. I focus on private clients collecting work with which they want to live, and thus have become an expert on the needs, issues, and obstacles of living with art. Moreover, most of clients hire me because they want good art but don’t know where to go or where to start. Most of them have never purchased a single piece of art and their budgets are not wildly huge. My knowledge of global emerging artists runs very deep and I find this to be the most exciting space to inhabit day in and day out. The work is not only affordable and accessible, it also deals with the issues of our time. I love curating collections that tell stories from multiple vantage points or perspectives and invite viewers to engage in conversation with another.
It is my mission in life to spread the joy of living with great art to as many people as possible. I am really proud of how many new collectors I have created over the past four years and feel like it is just the beginning!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Owning and running a business involves two different jobs. There is the actual work for which you get paid and then the second job is administering the business–taxes, invoicing, IT, etc… I knew this in an abstract sense but it was a steep learning curve in practice!
I also went through a period of saying yes to everything that came my way. While I felt like I was drinking out of a firehose most of the time, it really helped me figure out my niche and what I wanted to spend my time doing. Sometimes you learn the most from the jobs you like the least.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://caseymondaartadvisory.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_i_saw_and_liked/
- Other: https://artisawandliked.substack.com
