Q: Can you give
readers some insight into how you got your start in art?
A: I have always been interested in combining art with business
and helping others. I come from a family of artists, all very talented
in their own style. My father, Lorenzo Ghiglieri is a well-known,
highly collected bronze sculptor and painter, my brother is a sculptor
and my sister is a painter and also a sculptor. We had a very unique
childhood, I could write a novel on just that alone. We grew up on a
ranch learning that expressing ourselves through art was not only fun,
but very rewarding.
I now enjoy painting, developing businesses that partner with
charities for success, working closely with my family and bringing art
to a larger audience.
Q: You haven’t always had an idyllic life – you have been
convicted of a felony – can you explain what happened?
A: I have always enjoyed coming up with pranks and getting
people to laugh. I was in the army in 1987 and while on leave one
weekend, I was with a buddy and we thought it would be fun to
wallpaper our barracks bathroom with fake $20 bills. Unfortunately for
me, we made two-sided copies and passed some out as a joke. None of
the money was ever spent or used as real cash, but the army didn’t see
it as a joke at all. We quickly learned how serious an offense it was
to copy money. I was prosecuted for counterfeiting. I served 10 a
month sentence for my poor judgment.
I had one more incident after that. In January 1992 I was setting off
some home-made fireworks near a river with friends. I should have
known that the fireworks I was making were categorized as “explosive
devices” but I didn’t. We got caught blowing up our pipe bombs, and
because of my earlier conviction I was now considered a felon in
possession of an explosive device. Again my poor judgment landed me in
a federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon for 10 months. I truly thought my
actions were harmless, but I realize I broke the law and because of my
decisions I had severe penalties to pay. But I’ve grown up a lot and
have focused my energies instead on business development and
continuing my family’s commitment to charity and the art world.
Q: How does business development and charity tie together?
A: I have always been raised with a charitable conscience. Over
the years my father has donated hundreds of pieces of art to charity.
In 1998 I attended an auction where one of his pieces was being sold.
I marveled at the bidding war that ensued for this beautiful
sculpture. I began to envision a company that could be philanthropic
in nature, provide charities with fine art to auction, and be
profitable.
My idea was to call charities and offer a sculpture created from one
of my family’s bronze moulds for auction. I licensed the moulds from
my family and I named my new company Provenance Fine Art. Provenance
would produce the sculptures and split the profits with the charities.
We would both benefit. The charities received appraisals and reader
boards complete with the sculpture’s history and artist information.
The charity had no expenses related to the donation, but was the
beneficiary of half the proceeds. It was ideal. My company took off
like a rocket. There was more demand for the art than there were
pieces. I hired a ton of people and had two foundries working to keep
up with the demand. Unfortunately we had some growing pains because we
had to expand our foundries, hire more people and continue to foster
our strong relationships with our charity partners. We needed more
capital so I brought in a partner. I eventually sold the company and
it has since been renamed Rinascere Studios. Q:
Some would say that it doesn’t seem right to profit from charities –
what do you have to say about that?
A: I’ve always found those comments interesting. First, we were
not taking money away from charities; we were giving them an
opportunity to bring more money in. We only made money if the charity
made money. But you also have to look at the other businesses involved
with charities. The auctioneer gets paid a fee; the company providing
the computer services gets paid a fee, etc. There are many companies
that provide services to charities, get paid and are for-profit
businesses. We were no different in that respect, but better in the
sense that we helped bring more dollars to the charity through the
bidding for our art. top
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Q: Wasn’t there a lawsuit
against you that was related to the art?
A: The lawsuit was without merit and has since been dismissed.
It was separate from Provenance Fine art and was related to another
venture I had started. I have always enjoyed painting and in 2004 I
leased some space in an airplane hanger in Aurora, Oregon to set up a
studio. I wanted to create art that was different from the traditional
works of my family. My father, mother, brother and sister have
traditionally used realism in their forms of art. I wanted to
experiment in the abstract and create something that wasn’t a copy of
another style, but rather my own unique style. I created a separate
persona “Selvaggia” (meaning “wild” in Italian) to be the inspiration
for the art. Book authors often use another pen name so I decided to
do the same for my new style of art.
I had created somewhere between 30 to 50 pieces and wanted to have
more inventory, so I hired Joel Benson as my assistant. After
instructing, teaching and providing all the materials and concepts, we
painted side-by-side for 10 months using the technique I had developed
for the Selvaggia persona to create more Selvaggia paintings. It’s not
uncommon for artists to have assistants. Many famous artists such as
Dale Chihully and Thomas Kinkade work with assistants to help create
their art. I paid Joel a salary and we agreed that when the paintings
sold, Joel would receive a percentage of the sales.
I started developing marketing materials and a website with some
background on the “Marco Selvaggia” image. However, I had to put the
marketing of the paintings on hold to pursue a new project I was spear
heading called the “Sovereign Charity Group.” The group provided high
end wine to charities.
The paintings Joel and I worked on together sat in a warehouse for
about a year. Unfortunately Joel heard a rumor that I had sold them
for $20 million dollars. He was furious thinking that I had decided
not to pay him his percentage of the sale. He filed a legal complaint
against me to recoup what he thought I owed him. Because the rumor was
completely false, the complaint was dismissed. I brought 100 paintings
out of storage and gave them to Joel to serve as his percentage of
future profit. We amicably settled the partnership.
Q: Are you two still friends?
A: We are. Joel has apologized for the lawsuit and realizes he
made a mistake rushing to judgment.
Q: What are you up to now?
A: I am in the process of establishing the Mark Ghiglieri
Charitable Foundation. I have been very fortunate and found this to be
a good time to begin building a foundation that will have a lasting
impact. I will begin by donating sculptures to charities with 100% of
the proceeds going directly to the individual charity. I am also
looking into other philanthropic possibilities for the future of the
foundation.
Q: Are you doing any work with your father?
A: We are always combining our talents. I market his art and
sometimes I commission him to develop my ideas.
Q: Will we see any art from you in the near future?
A: I will continue to pursue my passion for the art world and
my interest in philanthropy. I am enjoying focusing on my foundation
and I will continue to work with my family to market their art. I am
also really excited to begin work on my autobiography, “Raised on
Adrenaline.” I have started the outline and it will be a thrilling
book to read. I have lived quite an interesting life so far.
For more information on Mark, please visit
www.markghiglieri.com.
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