An Unequal Artist Legacy Field Defines Who Gets to Be Remembered

Mikiko Ino, the president and director of the New York nonprofit KinoSaito, was deeply affected by the loss of her husband, Kikuo Saito, an abstract painter and the organization's co-founder. Inspired by his repeated mantra, "There are two deaths: the first is physical, and the second is when nobody talks about you," Ino vowed to prevent his legacy from fading into obscurity.

This sentiment is echoed in a new report by the Joan Mitchell Foundation, "Creating Future Memory," which highlights the challenges and inequities that prevent many artists from securing a lasting legacy.

The 80-page report, published on September 15, brings together 145 voices from the art world, including artists, family members, curators, and legacy workers. The study, co-authored by the Foundation's Director of Artist Programs, Solana Chehtman, and art writer and DEI metadata consultant, Sharon Mizota, sheds light on three key issues: access to knowledge, funding and resources, and coordination and collaboration.

Chehtman emphasizes the need for urgent attention to the underdeveloped and underfunded systems that govern artist legacy planning, particularly for those outside the mainstream art scene.