“Valuing Your Invaluables”
With Hilary Jay, Department of Better
Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 2:00 pm
MacColl Room, First Presbyterian Church
201 S. 21st St.
You’ve lived a full life, rich in traveling adventures and holiday celebrations, collecting pursuits and gift-giving pleasures. While you love the fine art, antiques and collectibles decorating your home, you also realize that you can’t take these things with you. So you wonder: “How do I enjoy what I have now, repurpose what I no longer need, realize the most money for the things I’m ready to sell, and find good homes for all my other valuables?” In this presentation, our speaker will give her perspective on those questions. Through examples, Hilary Jay will talk about objects and art currently in fashion or fading out; how to think about value; and selling on the secondary art market and via auction house sales. We will talk about consignment agreements, donations, and personal distribution parties. And we’ll look at multi-stage planning so that you steward forward the things you love. Jay will share some of the happy surprises she’s encountered doing this work, as well as some of the failures. And there will be lots of time to ask questions.
Hilary Jay, founder and managing director of Department of Better, is an award-winning journalist, designer, and a veteran educator. She co-founded Maximal Art - an international costume jewelry and watch company - where she was chief designer alongside John Wind. Her accessories can be found in the permanent collections of London's Victoria + Albert Museum, Paris' Musée des Arts Decoratifs, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “After decades working as a journalist, curator, educator, and designer, I founded Department of Better to help people create spaces that feel good, look great, and function exactly as needed.” Hilary’s writing has appeared in Metropolitan Home, More, IDmagazine, Galerie, and Arts + Antiques, in addition to the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, which featured her weekly column on interiors, architecture, design, and gardens.