How One Creative Idea Can Make Millions for Charities
With a legacy of artistic ability and fame in his immediate family, there was no question that Mark Ghiglieri would have a life filled with the pursuit of both furthering his own and others artistic abilities, and making life easier through philanthropic pursuits involving the art community whenever possible.
From a young age Mark was involved deeply in the artistic community. Exposure to the medium of sculpture, through his father Lorenzo Ghiglieri's stunning and revered artistry, opened a unique dimension of creativity to Mark. Throughout the years of his childhood, Mark was given the opportunity to explore his world and allow his mind to thrive creatively. This broad spectrum of involvement allowed him to develop a strong talent for recognizing and assessing marketable artwork.
In the early stages of Mark Ghiglieri's lifelong plan to give back financially to the artistic community, he started a small company called Millennium Fine Arts. Mark's goal was to reproduce a selection of his father's paintings and purchase some of the molds from his bronze sculptures. Phillip Morse agreed to invest in the project with him, and together they bought the mold collection and the rights to nearly 20 of the elder Ghiglieri's original paintings. The company successfully employed over 30 workers at it's peak. Although he made a priority of gifting to charities, in 1996 Mark decided to sell his interest to his partner Phillip Morse, so that he could pursue an idea that was forming for a more direct 'charity-related' business model.
Mark made himself available within the artistic community by attending charity auctions; where he also watched as the bidding on some pieces rose quite high. His earlier ideas for a unique business model continued to take shape and form as he attended auctions and analyzed the results of the pieces that were sold and for how much. In 1998 Mark attended an auction where the price for an item that had been bought from him by a doctor and donated to raise money for the charity, reached over $60,000.
It was then that the idea for a philanthropic company that provided art to auction for profit and charity, grew into the foundation ideals of Provenance Fine Art.
The premise was simple, though unique in that it had never been done before; the company would offer pieces to charities for auction, and the profits would be split in half between Provenance and the charity. Everyone would win. Provenance would make enough money to continue to produce art and the charities would substantially gain financially in every single transaction.
Every new business venture comes with the risk of failure; every new idea must be tested, analyzed and retested again before a winning combination is eventually struck with consistency. And of course, with every brilliant new business idea, there must always be a few critics; a few people stuck on the sidelines yelling that it will never work, or that it cannot be done ~ for whatever reason they might find valid and plausible.
Fortunately, Mark Ghiglieri is not a man easily swayed by convention and criticism. Like most visionaries, he has the fortitude to stay with a project even in the face of those who would counter his genius with sarcasm, acidic words, or personal barbs against his character. He has such a tremendous desire to perpetually enhance his ability to give to charities through any mode possible, that he ignores those who would see him fail simply to prove him wrong, and pushes forward to try again no matter what.
A man is not made a success however, by his friends, luck, or money. It is the measure of a man's drive that settles his successes in this life. Every successful business venture, big or small, was first met with setbacks, either from circumstances or from those who pushed against it, those who said it could not be done.
Mark's family has always stood solidly by him and provided him with beautiful artwork to continue the family tradition of giving back to the community. Mark has sold over $100 million of his family's art in the process of building his charity-driven business model. His father Lorenzo Ghiglieri is of course famous for his stunning sculptural works displayed in some of the most prominent establishments on the globe, including The White House, and the Vatican. Mark, his brother Laran, and sister Rebecca, are also remarkably gifted artists in their own right; talented in mediums from sculpture to oil painting as well.
The elder Ghiglieri, who infused his children with the ideals of philanthropy, had stated with regard to Provenance's business model that they were donating a lot of money to charity, and that was what really counted.
Sadly, but true to the structure of our society, Mark Ghiglieri is no stranger to the harsh voice of critics who have chosen to focus their strength upon deteriorating whatever he seeks to build. Auspiciously, for those charities who have benefited by more than $2.5 million dollars from his business model, Mark has more than enough stamina to take down his opponents by sheer willpower, and his ability to rise above criticism and focus on the importance of his goals; to provide not only profits for artists, employees, and investors, but to continue to give as much as possible to charities of all kinds.
