Marcelle Joseph is a London-based American independent curator, artist advisor, collector and patron committed to supporting and empowering women and queer artists.  Since 2011, Joseph has produced and curated over 50 exhibitions in the UK and the rest of Europe, featuring the work of over 400 international artists. Joseph holds an MA in Art History with Distinction from Birkbeck, University of London with a specialization in feminist art practice. Her curatorial work focuses on gender and the performative construction of identity. Joseph served as a trustee of Mimosa House in London from 2021-2026 and Matt's Gallery in London from 2018-2022 and served on the jury of the 2017-2019 Max Mara Art Prize for Women, in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery. She has been a long-standing ambassador of the Royal Academy Schools since the 2010’s and is a current patron of Camden Art Centre, Hepworth Wakefield, Lightbox, Mimosa House, Modern Art Oxford, and South London Gallery. She collects artworks by early-career women artists under the collecting partnership, GIRLPOWER Collection, as well as more generally as part of the Marcelle Joseph Collection. In 2023, she co-founded the GIRLPOWER Residency in southwestern France, an annual artist residency for female-identifying and non-binary artists.

Aki Abiola is the founder and CEO of Hope93 Gallery, a London-based institution dedicated to elevating underrepresented artists across various disciplines. Established in 2024, Hope93 Gallery serves as a platform for creatives at any stage of their career, emphasizing inclusion and access within the art world. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Aki Abiola's diverse background includes two decades of experience as a trusted advisor in the finance industry. A Cambridge graduate and former England youth rugby player, Aki has always had a deep passion for art. Over the years, he has become an avid art collector and has served on the Tate Museum’s acquisition committee, advising on the inclusion of underrepresented African artists. He is also a board member of Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, UK.

To celebrate the recent launch of her new book ‘NextGen Collectors and the Art Market’ we spoke to art-market commentator Georgina Adam about some trends she recognized through her research. 

Patronage in its purest form is the support of an individual or group by another. Philanthropy comes in a vast number of forms, and it not only can have immediate impact on an artist’s career but can also shape the future of art. Early investment in living artists is crucial to ensuring they can continue developing their practice.

In this Collector Stories, we speak to collector and patron, Henriane Mourgue d’Algue, about how she views patronage, and specifically her support for artist Liesa Bacchus who also joins us for this discussion, providing a valuable artist’s perspective.

Joe McKee has worked on innumerable projects with a wide variety of art world clients in Los Angeles. After co-founding MAMA Gallery in 2015, he went on to manage logistics and operations at some of L.A.’s top art handling companies, before developing the global fine art division for Malca Amit. He has consulted for a number of emerging galleries and individuals whilst still finding time to cultivate his own art practice. Joe now brings his wealth of art install and logistical experience to the SOLID team.

We talk a lot about how collecting is more than acquiring, but what does it mean to build a meaningful collection?

We look at what it means to be a collector and establishing meaningful collecting practices, who can call themselves a collector, and creating meaning in the present and in the future.

Kamila M. Korbela is an award-winning and accredited German Art Conservator for Paintings and Sculptures in Los Angeles with over 20 years of experience in the field of cultural heritage conservation. She successfully completed graduate studies in Art Conservation and held positions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Balboa Art Conservation Center, the National Gallery of Denmark and the German government to name a few. Kamila has published her work and research in national and international peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and books.

While Kamila continues to serve Los Angeles, she expanded her professional portfolio to provide museum-quality conservation services to individuals and other institutions worldwide through LA Art Labs.

Former investment manager Christian Levett has long been an impassioned arts patron, having at times described his collecting habits as “manic” or “compulsive.” This started from impulses as a child to amass football cards and other collectibles, and has since turned into a refined pursuit that focuses on Levett’s changing interests and focuses.

Levett has always been interested in sharing his collection and opened the Museum of Classical Art (MACM) in 2011 in Mougins, displaying antiquities, armour and classically inspired works.

We were thrilled to talk to CCH Pounder about her role as patron, collector, gallery owner and museum founder. While the award-winning actress is known for her major TV and movie roles including “Law & Order: SVU,” “The Shield,” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” she has always been an arts advocate in a variety of ways. In 1992, CCH Pounder and her husband, the late Boubacar Koné, founded and built the Musée Boribana, the first privately owned contemporary museum in Dakar, Senegal, which they gifted to that nation in 2014. Now, her collection contains over 500 works of art focusing on Caribbean and African artists and artists of the African Diaspora, as well as traditional African sculptures. Most recently the exhibition, “Double ID” opened at The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit on April 26th featuring works from the CCH Pounder-Koné collection. The show examines W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of “double consciousness” through contemporary artworks centering the inner self, identity, and evolving spirit of Black men.

Drs Ato and Tonya Wright met at medical school whilst training to be a Radiation Oncologist and Obstrecian Gynecologist respectively. Having been born in Accra, Ghana, Ato moved to the United States, age 13. Tonya was born and raised on the British Caribbean Island of Anguilla. Together, they enjoy travelling and appreciating art and music with their three sons.

Their collecting is intertwined with their familial and professional lives, their tagline being - ‘living with art in the home’ - and focuses on supporting and uplifting artists of the African diaspora. They go about collecting with purpose and integrity, sharing their journey through exhibitions and other initiatives and fostering a supportive arts ecosystem on a global scale. In 2021, they were featured in the Larry’s List Next Gen Art Collectors Report.

Just like our ‘collecting stories’ series, a day in the life aims to de-mystify the art-world, highlighting real-life stories of a typical day.

Lucy Scovell is a journalist and founder of The Istanbulist, a publication about all things art, design and travel in London, Istanbul & beyond. Through newsletters featuring curated edits, Q&As with local tastemakers, studio visits and feature articles, Lucy shines an authentic light on the people and places that make her home cities so special.

Kendra Walker is an art advisor and art writer that prioritizes and critically analyzes the work of emerging and established Black artists. As an arts writer she includes race theory and sociopolitical research in her work. She has contributed to editorial publications such as Artnet News, The Art Newspaper, Artsy, Galerie Mag, Cultured Mag, Contemporary&, and Sugarcane Mag. Kendra Walker focuses on making the art world more accessible for people of color and placing black art in institutions and in the collections of black collectors. Kendra Walker received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and fine art from Georgia State University in addition to studying art and architecture in numerous European cities. Kendra Walker is based in Atlanta, Georgia.Kendra Walker is the Founder of Atlanta Art Week and the Black Art Experience. She has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Essence, Artnet News, and others.