The Anticipatory Web Design Document

 

 

Virtual Museum Business Plan

 

 

 

Mission Statement:  Each templated business plan has financial, social and educational objectives.  For each artist the details will be different.  Artist creation is like the creation of patents by innovators, and has many of the same characteristics.  Thus the Charter of the BCNGroup applies in-principle, whether artistic creation or innovation creation. 

 

The nature of the business plan for a specific artist needs to take into account the nature and personality of that artist.  In most cases, a virtual museum will market original oil paintings and fine art reproductions to the public – in exchange for financial compensation under the control of the artist.

 

Well-defined financial, social and educational objectives will be meet by utilizing new collaborative web technologies and electronic commerce. 

 

 

Example: KellyPruitt.com

 

E-commerce tools and techniques are to be used to reach a high proportion of those many hundreds of thousands of individuals who have meet the artist during his career.  Individuals who have original painting will be allowed to provide a high quality digital image of the original to the Museum.  This image will be inventoried along with a history. A small lower resolution image will be displayed in the Virtual Museum.  Numbered and Authenticated Digital Reproductions and greeting cards will be produced on a just in time basis using high quality color printers.  The artist will benefit from each reproduction so produced, as well the owner of the original painting. 

 

This sharing of resources will be part of a community formation process that will be directed at preserving the histories of the painting and of the contributions of the artist.

 

The primary objective is to create a Virtual Museum.  The museum will display the images of all art that can be located from secondary markets and to build the secondary market.  The artist himself will offer some original paintings and his novels and will have a means to interact with his collectors via video conferencing.

 

Painting already sold once by the artist may be added to the museum and limited edition (numbered and authenticated) reproductions will be available through a just-in-time production center (for example: Reiger Communications, Gaithersburg, Maryland).  The just in time reproductions will be numbered and authenticated and will provide a means to develop the marketplace for the Pruitt originals. 

 

Financial:  KellyPruitt.com is a for-profit company, owned by the artist.  The primary purpose of the company is to provide income to the artist and to the Pruitt Foundation.  The Foundation is designed to support a physical museum and ranch outside of Presidio Texas and to prepare and preserve the Pruitt Virtual Museum as a historical record. 

 

The business plan has two phases with specific objectives within each phase. 

 

All original paintings currently offered for sale by the artist can be seen at the virtual museum.  Additional a collectors’ museum will allow the viewing of selected paintings, and the purchase of limited edition fine art (digital) reproductions of these images. 

 

Social: The virtual museum will exist in an Internet space where images created by the artist can be seen.  Art historians will work to catalog and provide history behind the estimated 5,000 to 6,000 original oil paintings and over 100 different bronze sculptor pieces.  The virtual museum will be arranged into pleasant appearing virtual rooms and support guided tours. In some parts of the museum real time communication between visitors will occur using web cameras and voice chat.  A multiple user domain will be established so that individuals may meet in the virtual museum and view original paintings, or hear audiotapes. 

 

Educational: The virtual museum will be the worldwide center for the study and interpretation of the life philosophy developed by Kelly Pruitt.  His books and audio/ video material will be available from the museum.  The artist will make presentations of the philosophy over the web using a web cam and Internet transmission satellite.  These Internet presentations will be generally made from his ranch in Texas and will be open to an invited public.  These presentations will be recorded and inventoried.

 

Financial Model

 

The financial model is based on a deep understanding of the e-commerce and business-to-business tools and techniques.  This understanding is based on the experiences of Nan Gelhard and Dean Rich, both of whom have traditional e-commerce systems.

 

Consistent with e-commerce practices, we have identified four parts to the Prueitt Virtual Museum .  These parts are the:

 

1)        artist’s environment

2)        e-commerce web site

3)        production and inventory system

4)        public

 

Technology use: The artist has a unique and nomadic life.  So we have developed a specific technology that the Museum will maintain and update.  This technology allows the artist to interact and communicate with anyone in the world via the web site.

 

The virtual museum will have secure transaction capability that supports credit cards purchases.

 

Product Line

 

Books:  Collectors’ editions of novels by the artist will be made available through the web site.

 

Audiotape:  The artist may produce a collection of audiotapes.

 

Reproductions: The Pruitt Museum will produce just in time inventory to meet orders for numbered and authenticated fine art reproductions and audiotapes. 

 

Original Oils:  Original oil paintings will be available from the Pruitt Museum. 

 

Silver sculpture miniatures:  Silver sculpture miniatures will be available in limited edition from the Pruitt Museum.

 

Cards and stationary:  A production system that produces greeting cards and fine stationary will be established with Reiger Communications whereby collectors may make regular purchases of cards from the Virtual Museum. 

 

Phase 1:  June 2003

 

June 1st:  E-commerce web site will be opened to the public.  Numbered and authenticated reproductions will be available on any painting imagine in the museum.

 

June 1st:  A limited edition of 50 portfolios of 16 reproductions (for paintings currently for sale by the artist) will be issued. 

 

June 1st: Three Christmas cards will be issued.  Two all-occasion cards will be issued. 

 

July 1st:  One limited edition of 100 (signed by the artist) on cotton paper.  $100 each. 

 

July 1st:  One limited edition of 100 (signed by the artist in oil) on canvas.  $150 each. 

 

 

On going:  As new painting come into existence, and the virtual museum receives the digital image, these images will be added to the e-commerce site and made available to the public for sale.  As new novels come into existence the virtual museum will make the novel available to collectors.

 

On going: A collectors’ area will be opened to those collectors provide high quality digital imaging.  Once the digital image is available, a limited edition on canvas (signed mechanically – not by artist) will be offered from the e-commerce site.  The collector will receive a 10% courtesy royalty as the edition sells.  However, the name and address of the collector will not be published and no secondary market for the original oils will be supported without the agreement of the artist.