40 years

 I have been a professional artist for more than 40 years. I have done all that a professional artist ought to do—national and international exhibitions, teaching, curating shows, mentoring young artists, getting work in museum collections, giving lectures, volunteering for art causes. I have worked in numerous 2-D and 3-D media as well as performance, text, public art and video. In that time I have maintained a coherent vision in my work.

And still my studio is filled with quality work that I can’t sell at a fair price. And I know plenty of artists like me in the same predicament, with studios full of topnotch work that they have to curate.

So I ask myself, where does all this work wind up when the artists die? Does it float up to art heaven? Is there a giant underground vault maintained by Goodwill where it is stored? Does it become just another commodity with a shelf life? Is it waiting for a PhD candidate in art history to find it and resurrect the life of the artist? Should there just be an annual bonfire of unsold art?

Do you have any suggestions?