Forget Stocks—Invest in Art Instead

A lot of cause-marketing websites ask for donations. A few clever ones even allow you to make micro-loans.

But a new website, called Trust Art, allows you to invest in the arts, rather than merely contributing to them. Invest as little as $1 in right project, and you could share in the profits with the artist who creates it.

One problem—if it is one—I probably chose the project I invested in based more on its commercial potential than solely on its artistic merit.

Based on my investing track record, I worry that my artist (who aims to assemble a database of images representing the age and appearance of the 6.7 billion people on the planet) doesn’t have a chance.

Check out the projects—and vote with your investment, large or small, today. (Beats the heck out of my 401k.)

Update on Tue, February 10, 2009 at 08:35PM by Frank J. Oswald

IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING. I e-mailed the folks at Trust Art to find out if the organization or its trustees were taking a cut of any potential profits. Within an hour, I received this direct and uncanned response: “To answer your question, no one other than the artists and investors will share in the proceeds of the auction. However, we might work with an auction expert like Phillips de Pury, for whom we might reserve a small operating percentage to help us execute the sale at the end of the year (but that will work to increase the valuation for both artists and shareholders).”