Dear Colleagues,

Whew. The ASA Las Vegas conference concluded successfully, despite record summer heat across the nation. ASA already has begun its new year facing many challenges and setting new goals. Our new President, Robert Schlegel, ASA, is busy leading both the new and standing members on committees into exciting directions for the future of our society and our appraisal professions. I urge you to meet Rob, if you have not yet done so.

Recent emails sent to all PP members have listed upcoming PP education courses. Be sure to check out where and what ASA is doing around the country during the coming year.

Like you, I am trying to finish reports and complete all of those little tasks that have been pushed further down my list during the busy summer months. I urge you not to get so caught up in end-of-summer commitments that you miss registering for our ASA Personal Property Educational Conference, to be held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Oct. 11-16, 2010.

First and foremost, I want to clarify that this will not be like the PP conferences you may have attended in the past. Two courses will be given during the week. The first is a course is on Antiques and Decorative Arts, and the second course is on Fine Arts. The courses will be taught back-to-back at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), in Old Salem, the historic 18th century restored Moravian settlement, and will include a curator-led tour of the MESDA collection. View conference registration and additional information

Housing for the MESDA week will be at the Brookstown Inn, which is a renovated textile mill located within two blocks of Old Salem. Our special ASA rate goes away after Sept. 10. For conference housing information, click the following link: http://www.brookstowninn.com

The Winston-Salem courses have been designed as intensive classroom experiences, with the MESDA collections providing referenced examples for the antiques and decorative arts course. Specialty examinations will be offered in both Antiques and Decorative Arts and in Fine Arts following each course. Both courses offer unique, intensive preparation for the examinations.

The Antiques and Decorative Art course runs Oct. 11-13. The course will be taught by several instructors, and will emphasize proper identification of materials, techniques, historical context, terminology, identification of marks, and other factors that form the basis for appraisal of antiques and decorative arts. This course is designed:

1. As a review and update (reaccreditation credit) for current appraisers holding a designation in Antiques & Decorative Arts;
2. As a primer for appraisers holding other designations who may be called on to examine antiques and decorative arts in consult with a designated specialist;
3. As a preparatory course and review for candidates wishing to sit for ASA’s designation exam in Antiques and Decorative Arts.

The Fine Art course runs Oct. 14-16. Developed and taught by Judith Vance, ASA, this course is an introduction to the particular challenges and protocols involved in appraisal of paintings, sculpture and works on paper. Focus is on problems and practice, correct identification, description and documentation of art, and the ways in which fine art appraisal reports may differ from those in other disciplines.

The fine arts course is designed:

1. For appraisers who occasionally value works of art in their Antiques & Decorative Arts or Household Contents practices;
2. For appraisers who examine and describe art works to be valued by another appraiser;
3. For appraisers who are interested in pursuing a Fine Arts designation.

The fine art course has a required textbook: Seeing Things: An Appraiser's Handbook for the Examination and Description of Fine Art, by Judith Vance (Fraser Publishing, 2010). The cost of this textbook is included in fine art course registration fees. Anyone else interested in the book may purchase it direct from Judith at jvfineart@comcast.net. Also recommended as an optional book for the course: Art Market Research: A Guide to Methods and Sources, by Tom McNulty (McFarland & Co. Inc., 2006).

Appraisers will be able to register to take the proctored Antiques and Decorative Arts specialty examination on either Thursday, Oct. 14, or on Sunday, Oct. 17, if they plan to attend the Fine Arts course. The Fine Arts examination also will be given on Sunday, Oct. 17.

To schedule your examination for any of these times, you must first do the following:

1. Submit a completed application for accreditation to ASA Headquarters. NOTE: ASA’s accreditation guidelines are available for download from the ASA website at http://www.appraisers.org/Files/Accred-Reaccred/PPAccredGuide.pdf
2. Pay the $275 fee to take the specialty designation exam. This fee is paid to ASA headquarters. (This must be completed by October 1, 2010 if you wish to take an exam in Winston-Salem in conjunction with the course offerings there.)
3. You contact Janella Smyth upon registration to register to take your examination on Oct. 14 or 17.

Exams for each applicant who has completed these requirements will be forwarded from ASA HQ to Janella Smyth to administer the exams in Winston-Salem on Thursday or Sunday, depending on which day you select.

If I sound excited about the Winston-Salem conference, it’s because I am. This special two-course event in an extraordinary setting is an example of the commitment ASA has made to your professional advancement and personal enrichment.

Take care, and stay cool. Summer is almost over. Great things are coming.

Sharon Ring Rollins,
Chair, Personal Property Committee

   

 

Professional personal property appraisers MAY be accredited as qualified to appraise personal property through certain professional accrediting appraisal societies. Personal Property appraisers who are accredited through our professional accrediting societies become qualified by passing rigorous courses, submitting reports for review by a panel of our peers, and by maintaining our professional education through participation in courses, seminars and conferences on our specialties and disciplines. Accredited personal property appraisers also must pass a course every five years or less developed through The Appraisal Foundation and The Appraisal Standards Board, governing updated Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Personal Property appraisers are not regulated at the state and Federal level, and therefore are NOT STATE or U.S. CERTIFIED, although personal property appraisers submitting reports for review by the Internal Revenue Service must comply with IRS requirements stipulating what is a “qualified” appraiser.