Since May 2021, Oana Bogdan is member of the executive board of the organisation The New Patrons.
The New Patrons seek to link artists and the public to commission art projects that respond to local emergencies. The project started in France, now in 8 European countries (France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden and Great Britain).
The project consists of a platform that connects civil society with artists in order to develop proposals for the community, addressing particular needs to bring a positive change. Citizens such as groups of teenagers, parents and children together, teachers and students, associations, inhabitants of a neighbourhood can commission work to artists with the help of a mediator. After a first phase where the proposal is developed with the help of a mediator, the organisation seeks financial, governmental and political support for developing the project. The patrons, the artist and the mediator all remain involved until the completion of the project.
The goal of the New Patrons is to give to all people – independent of financial means, educational or social status – the means to assume responsibility to commission the work of an artist for the benefit of the public. The executive board meets twice a year.
Date: 06.2021