Estate Project for Artists to Open in L.A.

A New York organization designed to help artists with AIDS in estate planning will be in full operation in Los Angeles in January.

The West Coast branch of the Estate Project for Artists With AIDS, established in New York in 1991, will work with artists to preserve their work, including copyrights.

“Even the most famous and successful artists don’t know what they need to know about legal affairs,” Estate Project Director Patrick Moore said. “Writing a will can seem like an admission of fatality, so a lot of times it ends up being done in an emergency situation, when the artist is very sick. Or not at all.”

The Estate Project will ensure that artists are provided with easily understood guidelines for creating an effective estate via publications and individual counseling.

Through the program, artists will receive assistance with legal counseling, cataloguing and inventory of art, archives/documentation, emergency grants and fellowships to individual artists, grants for studio space and art materials. Expanded exhibition and presenting opportunities will also be available.

This effort is the work of the Alliance for the Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy research, information services and advocacy for the arts.

For more information on the Estate Project for Artists With AIDS, call (212) 947-6340.