Strategic art advisory and management services

Black Etc. was founded in 2014 by Valérie Whitacre with the aim of combining her experience in business development and photography dealing. Today, the company incorporates an additional decade of experience in the photography market, fine art consulting and blockchain art based initiatives.

The company embraces the core belief that the arts are at the heart of innovation and progress. Whilst the traditional art market remains opaque, a new generation of brands, museums, galleries and collectors have found rich opportunities through transparency, collaboration and collective innovation.

Black Etc. positions itself at the centre of these operators, providing strategic advisory and collections management for collectors, private foundations, museums, aspiring creatives, start-ups, commercial and philanthropic initiatives who share these beliefs.

What to expect

  • Strategic consulting is often overlooked by art market stakeholders, and can cause serious stumbling blocks to success. From early research stages to project coordination and delivery, Black Etc. takes a collaborative and forward-thinking approach to bring the best ideas, providers, partners and experts together to realise client goals. Black Etc. offers an especially strong network for photography, new technologies and placemaking.

  • The most basic steps of art acquisition, storage, insurance, payments, loans and sales are almost always more efficient with a central coordinator. Black Etc. offers refined, specialist knowledge for collectors looking for logistics, value appreciation advice, divestment strategies and consolidation as well as introductions to digital art collecting.

  • There are few programmes or resources for creatives, start-ups, aspiring dealers or collectors to learn more about how to realise their ambitions. Black Etc. offers one-off workshops, educational solutions, CV & deck revision and mentorship programmes for those wanting more guidance on how to enter or operate in today’s art market.

Projects

Whilst many of Black Etc.’s projects remain private, recent successes involved working with the Serpentine Galleries in London, The Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Allen Ginsberg Estate in the United States. 
Mixing traditional art, new technologies, branded partnerships, NFT drops and physical art projects, these initiatives are bespoke to each stakeholder and leverage a strong network across different competencies and regions.

About

Black Etc. was founded in 2024 by Valérie C. Whitacre, an experienced photography dealer with a passion for building businesses, networks and projects that are more than the sum of their parts. She started her career in management consulting, but found her home in the global photography community. In 2022, she pivoted to digital art on the blockchain, leading global Web3 initiatives for a blockchain ecosystem. The experience inspired her to integrate her unique knowledge of the art market, photography, tech and strategy in a way that supports and creates more refined projects, in direct alignment with clients.

Please get in touch

Please feel free to get in touch no matter the scope of your project: mail@black-etc.art
All enquiries and conversations are strictly private and confidential. However, if you require an NDA before a consultation, please make sure to inform us.
News and updates are sent once a quarter.