The Anticipatory Web Design Document
Virtual
Museum Business Plan
(June 2003: planned but not achieved)
Mission
Statement: A Virtual Art Museum Franchise Package
is to be developed and offered to artists and the families of artists. The package will have:
1)
Software
components
2)
Production
contracts for just-in-time fine art reproductions
3)
Association
to an existing business ecosystem
4)
Templated
business plans for forming a Limited Partnership and then a Corporation (example)
5)
Low
cost server hosting for anticipatory e-commerce
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 adoption.
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 A. Kelly Pruitt
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, and www.dcimage.com ).
The just in time reproductions will be numbered and authenticated and
will provide a means to develop the marketplace for the Pruitt originals.
Financial: www.KellyPruitt.com
is a for-profit company, owned by the artist.
However the site fails to achieve the types of sales that is possible
with the Virtual Museum System.
The
primary purpose of the new company would 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 experience with
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 whereby
collectors may make regular purchases of cards from the Virtual Museum.
Phase
1: (planned but not achieved)
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.
We are currently looking for Angel Investment support
Wednesday, March 31, 2004