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Libby Holloway, ISA CAPP

by Libby Holloway, ISA CAPP

I hope most of you have had the opportunity to check out A Guide to Appraising Fine Art, ISA’s new and improved manual for our Fine Art specialty course. Even though I am most definitely not an art appraiser, I have my very own copy, and have been reading through it. It is such a comprehensive guide to all aspects of art, including the prints we ARC appraisers see so much of. I believe even this stubborn old dog will learn something. It has already encouraged some of us to consider a few upgrades to the ARC manual.

A few years ago, many dedicated volunteers did a great job of updating the material in the manual. Everyone is still talking about their hard work and that of Kirsten Rabe Smolensky, ISA CAPP, who edited the entire manual. 

Because ISA has the advantage of using a print on demand publisher we are able to do another update to bring this manual up to the high bar set by the FA manual committee. Besides the branded ISA art on the cover, we will be including color photos and a few new chapters, including one on research skills. Our instructors, Micky Logan, ISA CAPP, Valerie Hale, ISA CAPP, and Todd Sigety, ISA CAPP, as well as Education Director Leon Castner, ISA CAPP, will be working on identifying lapses in content (Hey, I was one of the chapter authors and we can’t all be perfect all the time!) which will be addressed. Volunteer members will be working to make the changes to sections where they have superior knowledge. A few sections, such as the list of websites, will be excluded. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Internet changes happen too quickly to be included in the print copy of the manual. An alternate list, which can be updated frequently, will be made available on the forum. 

Our organization is recognized as an industry leader in education due to the high standards of our educational offerings and supporting materials. Board members and staff are taking your ideas and turning them into more and better content. Some of our Affinity Business Partners have even offered webinars to our members, such as the one presented by Eli Wilner recently. We have plans to exchange webinar content with some of these partners. The ones we offer will educate their staffs on what ISA appraisers have to offer them and their clients. 

Speaking of good ideas from our members, if anyone, especially new ARC course graduates, have comments or suggestions for the manual update, please let me know. I’d welcome your emails to libby@LibbyHollowayAppraisals.com.