The Mechanisms

Partial Common Ownership for Art introduces a set of new social and economic mechanisms that are distinct from absolute ownership, fractional ownership, collective ownership, and renting/leasing. Here is how it works:

1. Stewardship Licence (SL) allows Artists to define how they’d like the ownership structure to reflect the values of their artwork.

The Artist creates a Stewardship Licence for their artwork to enter circulation. In the SL, the Artist defines who is part of the artwork’s Creator Circle. These may include the artist themselves, as well as key actors in the community around them – their studio members, the people, places, and institutions whose energy is reflected in the work.

The Artist also defines the duration of Stewardship Cycle(s), the Periodic Honorarium to be paid out to the Creator Circle by the Stewards, and any additional terms relating to who can and cannot be a Steward.

The ongoing (financial) support via the renewal of the Stewardship License at the end of each Stewardship Cycle can be thought of as the Creator Circle retaining a partial ownership interest of the artwork.

As the bearer(s) of the Stewardship License, Stewards have the right to possess, exhibit and/or benefit from other rights relating to the artwork and its context(s).

2. Stewardship Cycles introduce a new logic binding possession of art with a commitment to art as an agent of positive societal change.

When the SL passes into the hands of the first Steward, they become an agent of the artwork’s Creator Circle – for example, the Steward may be required to follow certain guidelines in exhibiting and/or maintaining it. They may also benefit from being connected to the Creator Circle socially and organisationally.

Through the SL the Artist defines the period of time that each Stewardship Cycle lasts. At the end of each Stewardship Cycle, the incumbent Steward can either recommit to the artwork or the SL will pass on to a new Steward. While possession of the SL and the artwork that it points to are temporary, each Steward will forever remain part of the networked community grown through the artwork’s circulation.

3. Stewardship Inauguration institute a periodic ritual for the artwork to enter and re-enter circulation, thereby allowing Stewards to either recommit or for the artwork to pass to a subsequent Steward.

At the end of each Stewardship Cycle, the stewardship interest captured in the SL automatically reverts to an Stewardship Inauguration where eligible potential Stewards have an opportunity to obtain it.

If a Steward in one Stewardship Cycle ceases the stewardship of the next cycle, they receive the Stewardship Inauguration’s winning bid. A percentage of the bid is also paid by the new Steward to the Creator Circle.

If a Steward in one Stewardship Cycle wins the Stewardship Inauguration for the next period, they simply retain their stewardship interest. Again, a percentage of the winning bid is due to the Creator Circle.

4. Periodic Honorarium is the percentage of the winning bid that passes on to the Creator Circle at each Stewardship Inauguration.

The percentage of the winning bid that is due to the Creator Circle at the outset of each new Stewardship Cycle is set by the Artist as part of the SL. The value of the Periodic Honorarium will therefore vary depending on the highest bid placed at each individual Stewardship Inauguration.

The incumbent Steward will always be at a slight advantage to new potential stewards insofar as they will only need to pay the Periodic Honorarium provided their bid trumps those of the new potential stewards. Of course, the Creator Circle also benefits, since the higher the bid, the higher will the Periodic Honorarium be.

By arranging the rights of an art ecosystem in this way, no one has an absolute ownership interest.