Whether utilized as marketing technique meant for profit, or space for cultural propagation, the two worlds of art and real estate have never been closer.
Increasingly within New York City, real estate professionals have been merging with outside industries, such as technology and start-ups, in order to bring the most innovative marketing techniques to their business. Since the start of 2014, I've noticed industry professionals pushing a merger of real estate and art.
In February, using a creative twist to the concept of artwork within a home, one of my colleagues, another NYC broker, staged the walls of one of their listings with framed blown up photos from their Instagram page. The amount and quality of artwork within a home, especially one in Manhattan where apartments tend to flaunt a need for personalization, can have a major impact on a potential buyer's impression and emotional connection to a listing.
Even artists, and not just agents, have noticed the trend and are furthering the merger. As two Roosevelt Island residents were moving out of their apartment in May, they turned to maximize the space and turn it into an art gallery. Rather than be a space for profit -- to sell the artwork or act a marketing technique for the listing -- the artists just wanted an outlet to showcase their work outside of the trite gallery. Just as my colleagues challenged the customary staging and marketing of New York real estate, they counteracted the traditional definition of the art gallery.
When it comes down to industry marriages, the unification of art and real estate really isn't too serendipitous. Art belongs in the home, and therefore it only makes sense that the artworks showcased and the apartments housing them complement each other. Do you believe in the successful future of the art of real estate? Leave your comments below, I'd love to hear them.