An African Art Collection Grows in Brooklyn'

This story illustrates the good private collectors do, preserving and displaying historic objectes (Marion Maneker, 'Largest Private Collection of African Art in US Wants to Become a Museum', Art Market Monitor July 6, 2015):

NBC News did a story about the owner of a large collection of African art who originally wanted to donate the works to an existing institution but has now decided to build his own museum in New York with the help of a kickstarter campaign. This effort should stand as a stark reminder to those who view the art market with suspicion that all great museum collections have been founded on private collections amassed through the market: Over 2,500 pieces of African art — some dating back as far as 4,000 years — all exist under one apartment roof and potentially worth millions of dollars. As one of the largest private collections of African artifacts in the United States, it represents each of Africa’s 54 countries and continues to grow, due to the passion of former AT&T executive Eric Edwards. [...]  An emphatic collector with a keen historical and cultural understanding of the items he has accrued over 44 years, Edwards stay close with his art, in fact, he lives it.

Nice video: 'An African Art Collection Grows in Brooklyn' (NBC News)

 The Kickstarter for the museum is up. Link is here: kck.st/1MWEfs3