Business

Mixing Fine Art
And A Worthy Cause

CONVERT YOUR JEWELRY
TO CASH!!

Fine jewelry is to be worn. You have worn and enjoyed it for many years. Are you
still wearing it or is.it sitting in a drawer or a safe deposit box?

JENNIFER FINER JEWISH NEWS INTERN

Robert Grant can turn your jewelry that you are not wearing into cash at the
fairest, most favorable prices.

he art in Tracey Conn's
West Bloomfield home is
constantly changing.
One day, she may be
showing off a $650,000 Georgia
O'Keefe original. And a day lat-
er, it may be gone.
A piece by Marc Chagall
might be displayed above the
fireplace for a few weeks. Then
it is replaced. At times, her
home has been filled with col-
lection pieces by Rodin. These
items often sell for $40,000
each.
The bottom line: Her collec-
tion is never static.
For the past five years, Ms.
Conn, a commercial fine arts
broker, has been working with
galleries, publishers, corporate
buyers and private collectors,
buying and selling art at below
established gallery prices.
In addition, she is the only
one in the state of Michigan au-
thorized to sell art by Russian
artist Yuri Gorbachev, whose
work includes a display at the
Musee du Louvre in Paris. Mr.
Gorbachev has been commis-
sioned by Absolut Vodka to cre-
ate a painting for its fall ad
campaign. Ms. Conn also holds
the exclusive rights to Mr. Gor-
bachev's work and can autho-
rize any gallery in the state to
sell his pieces.
For personal reasons, Ms.
Conn intends to use her busi-
ness to implement an endow-
ment fund to assist any
impaired or disabled college-ed-
ucated health-care profession-
al trying to reenter the
workforce. Funds would be
raised through proceeds gener-
ated from the sale of fine art.
Funds would then be used for
re-educating or retraining pro-
grams aimed at helping profes-
sionals who would otherwise
not be able to return to work.
Ms. Conn says there is a
great need to help disabled
health-care professionals who
for financial, physical or emo-
tional reasons cannot return to
work and are denied or cut off
from financial support.
"There is a major shortage of
health-care professionals and
as our population ages the need
for these professionals, will be
heightened," she says. "We need
to recycle the existing knowl-
edge and experiences of these
individuals and help them reen-
ter the workforce."
Establishing the endowment
is a difficult task that takes time
to get off the ground, she adds.
"The endowment will literal-

Bob has more than 30 years experience in purchasing and selling jewelry. Over
the last 10 years, he has been liquidating major jewelry stores throughout the
United States and is now offering his services to you. You can be assured of
complete discretion. All arrangements will be kept in the strictest of confidence.

Call R.L. Grant & Associates today to make an appointment. There is no
obligation. By calling Bob, you will have the information you need to make an
informed, good decision.

R.L. Grant & Associates

JEWELRY APPRAISERS & ESTATE LIQUIDATORS
CONSULTANTS FOR THE JEWELRY INDUSTRY

31275 Northwestern Hwy. • Suite 233
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334
(313) 851-7333

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ly run into hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars," she says. "For
this to get off the ground, I have
to be in a position to have those
funds ahead of time.
"You buy art from me and
you're going to get a discount,
So you're saving money plus
some of the proceeds will go to.
the endowment. Hopefully
someone is going to go back to
work because of it. It's a win-
win situation," she says.
Ms. Conn, who never really
had intentions of becoming an
art broker-dealer, says it is an
interest that just developed over
the years.
"Because my family collect-
ed and because I was a world
traveler I always had this back-
ground of culture," she says. "I
lived in Chicago and California
and had access to culture there.
I guess it was just an interest
that developed and then I saw
a need for it.

The bottom line is
her collection is
never static.

"This profession wasn't my
intent but now I can marriage
being a broker-dealer of fine art
and aid health care profession-
als through the endowment."
In hard economic times, Ms.
Conn says her business does not
suffer. She believes the demand
for art has been around forev-
er; the number of buyers re-
mains constant.
"I think people who are going
to buy art are going to do so re-
gardless of how good or bad the
economy is," she says. "I'm not
hit like a gallery would be hit in
hard economic times, especial-
ly since I'm more diverse, sell-
ing to different people."

❑

Burger King
Still Talking

Burger King, the U.S. fast-food
chain, has informed the Yair
Tamir-Kamor group of its plans
to continue negotiations for
reaching a franchise agreement
to operate the chain in Israel.
Six or seven parties partici-
pated in the tender for the fran-
chise to operate the chain here.
Other contenders included the
Burger Ranch-Super-Sol group,
Nachi Laor, the founder and
owner of the Apropo restaurant

