In this week’s episode of Giving Back is Dead, we’re joined by Sophie Neuendorf, Vice President at Artnet and Professor at IE University School of Humanities, for an insightful discussion on the evolving role of art in the market, social change and the importance of Giving.

Sophie shares how she and her brothers started an artist residency in Mallorca, inspired by their father’s legacy of supporting artists. The residency offers a serene space for artists to create, culminating in exhibitions and features on Artnet News. This initiative is a reflection of Sophie’s commitment to fostering creativity and supporting emerging artists beyond just financial means.

Sophie also teaches at IE University, where she helps students navigate the art market, not only as an investment but with a deeper understanding of art’s cultural significance. She emphasizes the importance of blending passion with financial insight and encourages students to see art as both a personal and financial asset.

The conversation touches on the growing influence of artists in addressing social issues, from climate change to movements like Black Lives Matter. Sophie sees today’s media landscape as providing artists with more opportunities to drive societal change through their work.

On the topic of data, Sophie points out that Artnet relies on secondary market data due to the challenges in verifying primary market information from galleries. While galleries play a key role, she believes accurate data is essential for making informed decisions in the art world.

Sophie also explores the importance of funding the arts, arguing that the arts have always been central to defining cultures and nations. She questions the morality of cutting funding to something so integral to society’s fabric.

In this special episode of Giving Back Is Dead, recorded at OFFSCREEN in Paris during our third year at the fair, we sit down with Masha Bucher, Founder and General Partner at Day One Ventures. Masha is an influential investor and entrepreneur whose vision for the future combines the power of technology with the cultural depth of art. Masha explores how technology can solve some of the most pressing global issues—like cancer, climate change, and inequality—but she also highlights a critical disconnect: as tech accelerates, the gap between innovators and the broader society widens, making it harder for solutions to reach those who need them most.

Through an inspiring conversation, Masha reveals her belief in the transformative power of art in bridging this gap. She explains how involving artists in the development and dissemination of cutting-edge technologies can ensure that these solutions are not only understood but also embraced by the public. She sees museums as key spaces where tech and art can intersect, particularly in smaller, specialized institutions that are more open to experimentation. These museums can align with her vision by providing platforms to explore ideas around humanity’s future. Hosting workshops would bring together diverse thinkers—technologists, artists, and entrepreneurs—to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration. Hackathons could serve as a gateway, opening museum spaces to the tech community and driving organic innovation. By engaging with early-stage founders, museums can build trust and cultivate long-term relationships, supporting them before they achieve widespread success.

Masha is also deeply inspired by history, particularly the Renaissance, and has been contemplating how a similar cultural and intellectual awakening can be sparked today. She believes that, just like in past eras, we have the potential to fuse art, science, and technology to ignite a movement that propels society forward. In her view, creating opportunities for artists and tech entrepreneurs to work together is the key to unlocking this potential.

Masha’s approach to innovation goes beyond funding or philanthropy; it's about creating genuine connections between people from different worlds—artists, tech entrepreneurs, and investors—through shared spaces and open dialogue. She believes that good taste, cultivated through art, is a universal muscle that enhances not just the appreciation of creativity but also the quality of tech products and business ventures. It's this philosophy that has helped her identify promising tech companies and entrepreneurs early on, offering a fresh perspective on how culture can influence the evolution of the tech industry.

Throughout this episode, Masha challenges us to think differently about philanthropy and giving back. Rather than simply donating or backing causes, she advocates for fostering environments where organic, meaningful connections can grow—connections that drive real, lasting change for both society and the industries shaping our future.

Chelsea Spengemann joins Scott Stover on Giving Back is Dead to discuss Soft Network, the nonprofit she co-founded and now leads as Executive Director. The organization collaborates with artist estates and archives to develop sustainable legacy models for historically significant artists who lack the commercial gallery representation needed to preserve and promote their work. Their goal is to ensure that these artists' contributions endure despite not achieving the commercial success required for broader recognition.

Chelsea has also created an email chain/group called Artist’s Foundation & Estate Leaders’ List or “AFELL” concerning best practices for people who are actively managing artist’s estates. AFELL currently has +300 members.

GBID is particularly interested in models which are not motivated by the market.

Elizabeth Dee joins Scott Stover on Giving Back is Dead for a conversation about her new non-profit initiative, the New York Gallery History Project at the Contemporary Art Library. Elizabeth holds a unique position and perspective in the New York art infrastructure as CEO and Co-Founder of the beloved Independent Art Fair. She has also been the curatorial advisor for the most important video art collection in the U.S., owned and operated an art gallery for 20 years, served as the founding director of an artist-endowed foundation, co-produced art movies, worked as an associate professor at NYU on the art market, and acted as a trustee at Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and the Filmmakers Cooperative at the New American Cinema Group.

We speak to Elizabeth about who she is and how she got to where she is today, discussing her various positions in the art world. We explore the success of the Independent Art Fairs within the context of a very crowded art fair calendar and a nervous art market. Finally, we talk about the dominance of the U.S., with New York as its capital, within the global art market.

The New York Gallery History Project "aims to showcase important and influential New York City gallery exhibitions from the past in an online archive that is free and available to all." It seeks to ensure that the historical record is accurately told and to provide scholarship for future generations of gallerists and curators.

On a chilly morning during Frieze Art Week in Los Angeles, Audrey Ou sat by the fireplace at Scott's home to discuss her groundbreaking tech platform, TRLab, and how she Gives to the Arts.

TRLab was established in 2021 with the vision of using technology to broaden the audience for art collecting and education among millennials and Gen Z. The platform integrates gamification and game mechanics to engage the NextGen audience in a familiar and captivating manner. By expanding the audience, enhancing the enjoyment of the art experience, educating, and demonstrating the relevance of art in our lives, TRLab takes critical initial steps towards supporting Giving to the Arts.

Among the first projects undertaken by TRLab is highly inventive and creative support for artist-endowed foundations’ mission: Calder Foundation and Chris Burden Estate. Despite the decline of the NFT market, TRLab utilizes generative NFTs to allow users to experience firsthand the artistry of Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, particularly his use of fireworks, demonstrating their enduring relevance independent of market trends.

Audrey explores the potential of NFTs as a revenue model benefiting artists, artist-endowed foundations, and art institutions. TRlab has also collaborated with David Ariew and Tatler China on a philanthropic initiative, donating 50% of proceeds to Save the Children.

During our discussion, Audrey shared insights into her legacy philanthropic activities as a Global Patron of LACMA and a member of the Guggenheim's Asia Art Council.

Finally, we explored the distinctions between philanthropic practices in Asia and the U.S., a topic we plan to delve deeper into in future conversations.

Scott sits down with Patton Hindle at L.A. Tennis Club at the start of Frieze week LA as it traditionally begins with the ART & LEISURE tennis tournament to raise funds for Artadia, a beloved arts nonprofit, where Patton has recently taken on the role of Executive Director.

Patton, a millennial, has been a gallery owner, director of arts for Kickstarter and published provocative opinion articles on the state of the contemporary arts. She is ideal to discuss nextgen giving to the arts. Patton is acutely aware of the massive generational wealth transfer occurring and the existential need for engaging nextgen’s to give to the arts. Patton cites the figures which indicate that giving to the arts in 2022 declined 8.9% when adjusted for inflation. It was the only sector which experienced a decline in giving. She believes that we have to make the case for the arts as an essential part of the social construct in the U.S. She sees the attraction of art related to social causes and social impact art as an entry point to engage millennials and generation Z’s. Patton also believes that it is necessary to have a critical mass of nextgen art collectors in order to assure that they participate in giving to the arts. We discuss how and why Patton was successful in engaging 22 to 44 year olds to support Kickstarter art initiatives and a social impact program she created for Kickstarter.

Patton believes that we need to have a U.S. cabinet level appointment for the Arts in order to address its essential role. We look briefly at the example of Americans for the Arts nonprofit which is trying to address the arts relevance with impressive data points in the form of an “arts and economic prosperity” study.

We also discuss Patton’s other advisory and board positions at the Mellon Foundation and the Laundromat Project.

Vajra Kingsley and Scott Stover reflect over two seasons of Giving Back is Dead and provide a vision into the next season. Conversation was held at La Masion Lune, in Venice, California.