We recently connected with Delia LaJeunesse and have shared our conversation below.
Delia, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I started Subvert Art Consulting, in short, because the art world has failed.
My company sets out to help clients find art for their homes that they truly resonate with, and facilitate a culture of new art collectors who are engaged and empowered to do it differently.
I have loved art since I was a young child, but struggled to really get art, to feel comfortable with art up until a few years ago. I had to come face to face with my own discomforts and fears around speaking about art, interpreting art and employing art as a resource in my daily life. I developed methods and practices for myself, which I now teach to clients, to overcome these hangups, and get to where I am today.
From 2015 to 2019 I was the Executive Director of a non-profit arts organization whose mission was to provide platforms for visual, literary, and performing artists. During that tenure, I noticed a troubling trend which was that despite the range of topics and mediums we featured at events, the audience was almost entirely made up of people who were themselves artists, were married to artists (hello obligatory attendee), or were professionally arts-adjacent.
This was alarming to me. Where were the people who could most benefit from an arts experience? Who had fresh eyes and opinions about art? Who could truly push the arts forward by bringing it into aspects of our society where it rarely reaches?
In researching and asking questions of colleagues in the field as well as friends, strangers, and, naturally, the internet, I learned that a lot of people avoid, literally avoid, the arts. I have discovered a handful of reasons this happens, and four myths and misconceptions people have about art. From where I stand, they all point to a failed art world.
The arts make us human, and if people do not feel comfortable with art or in art spaces, then art is not doing what it has the potential to do.
So I thought what better place to address this pervasive discomfort with art than in the home, in the place people feel most at ease by empowering clients to develop private art collections.
This is a movement of new art collectors who do not fit the established caricature, and reject the exclusive, and inaccessible perception of the art world. Art is for the people. We are subverting the art world and pushing against the barriers to entry so that more people can experience the profound benefits of living with art that truly speaks to them.
By supporting people as they become powerful art collectors who offer meaningful support to emerging and mid-career artists, this company is able to nourish the arts in a foundational way, and begin to redress the failings of the art world.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have the delightful job of helping people find art from emerging and mid-career artists. I work one-on-one with clients, guiding them through a personalized experience to not only find art for them that reflects who they are and what they value, but take it a step further and help them use that art as a resource to lead a more enriching, vibrant and meaningful life.
I am able to tailor my services to client’s exact concerns and knowledge gaps, so that they can be empowered art collectors, and confidently navigate the art world.
When a client hires me, we develop a customized plan based on where they’re at and what they are looking for. I help clients find pieces to start or expand their art collection by getting an extensive understanding of who my client is, what they value, what their style is (or what they want it to be), and what they want their art collection to represent.
We then create a strategic approach to art collecting that will inform their buying decisions for decades to come. From here, we use this strategy to purchase art pieces that have moved them. Once the work is installed in their homes, we are then able to shift into the second component of our work together.
I customize skills and practices my clients can employ to use their art as a resource in their lives. Art in the home can be used as a conversation piece, it can be used to process experiences—both individually and societally, it can be used in a contemplative or meditative practice. Essentially, I believe that art can be a balm, that it can balance areas of life that need attention, and inspire the client to be the best version of themselves.
By the end of our work together my clients know how to use the art they own to become more interesting, culturally savvy, and fulfilled. In the process they’ve acquired gorgeous art that creates a truly unique home.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Truly I think my authenticity and passion just bleeds through everything I do. I’ve been in the arts for about a decade in many different roles and I have a pretty good grasp on what people hate about art. This has allowed me to speak very candidly to folks and meet them where they are at in the least intimidating way. I’m pretty real with people and intimately understand the perceptions and fears people have about art.
I also think having come from the other side of this world—working for and with artists, it’s clear that my intention is to benefit everyone involved, which I think just feels good to people who work with me. And on that note it’s also about having put the time in. I have a vast network of artists and curators who help keep my finger on the pulse, and building those relationships and trust simply takes time and commitment.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I’m going to try to keep this short, but it does start with an eleven year old me. I went to an arts middle school where I had an art teacher who told my father I’m not good at art and should drop out. Brutal. Fortunately my dad is cool, and basically said to her teaching art is your literal job. But it made an impact on me, I really started to believe that art cannot be understood by everyone and began to hold art at an arms length.
Despite having a deep love for art I felt so intimidated taking art classes that I only took one in all of high school and college. After graduating I started an arts organization and involved myself in the arts in as many ways as possible, but notably every one of them outside of the institutions that guard the arts—namely academia and museums. To make myself feel comfortable in the arts I had to carve out my own little corner.
Through this organization I began advocating for the arts every day, and landed on the fact that art is our birthright, and that it is essential to our wellbeing, societally and individually. Saying this to funders and audiences and my team every day I had to truly reckon with my own avoidance.
The art world is highly intimidating. There’s a reason why most people walk into a museum and read the information cards first, before ever really looking at the art piece. We often come into art spaces guarded and uneasy, and struggle to trust our own interpretations and intuition.
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