New ArtCast: Art Collecting 101 - How to Determine the Value of Your Art Collection

Alvah T. Beander

Is that old painting on your attic worth anything? What about the art in your grandmother's house? Does your current homeowner's insurance cover your art?

To answer these and other questions, we have invited Alvah T. Beander to help us.

Alvah is a certified personal property appraiser specializing in African, African American and African Diaspora art. Upon completing the requirements (pending) of senior level appraiser in the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) she will become the first African American and women awarded the designation in African art. She is a frequent lecturer and has presented at: International Monetary Fund (IMF), D.C. chapter of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), The Congressional Black Caucus conference, The Embassy of Ghana, and the Phillips Collection to name a few.

Some major highlights of her career include serving as a consultant to the National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission. She also served as an appraiser and consultant to the PBS series “the Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Johnnie Lee Gray paintings. In 2002, Alvah was selected to appraise the African art gifts to President George W. Bush making her the first African American woman to appraise for a sitting president. In 2005, she established the Alvah T. Beander scholarship through the ASA’s Educational Foundation (ASAEF) to encourage candidate, associate and senior members of the American Society of Appraisers to certify in the specialization of African Sculpture.

Her articles have appeared in the Professional Personal Property Journal of the American Society of Appraisers and Scholar magazine. She is a member of: American Society of Appraisers (ASA), D.C. Chapter, and serves on the executive board. She is a member of the prestigious Art Table: Women Leaders in the Visual Arts and is a lifetime member of the National Black MBA Association and has worked with the D.C. chapter Community Consulting Clinic (CCC).

She is currently an adjunct professor of management, marketing and ecommerce at Strayer University. In 2005 she developed and began teaching a course for career artist, The Business of Art at Northern Virginia Community college.

Alvah earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Bennett College for Women and a MBA from Marymount University. The certification in appraisals studies: Personal Property was earned at George Washington University. She is the CEO and Founder of Melanin Art Appraisers, LLC based in Alexandria, Virginia.

You can listen to this podcast using the green G-Cast player on the right of this blog, through i-tunes or the podcast home page here