Contemporary
Art from the Ann and Mel Schaffer Collection
See It Now celebrates art and artists brought together by Ann and Mel Schaffer, patrons of the arts and collectors whose empathy, curiosity, and embrace of our complex humanity is found in every corner of their home.
Ann Schapps Schaffer, Skidmore College class of 1962, and her husband, Mel Schaffer, began collecting cutting-edge contemporary art in the 1980s. Willing and eager to take risks, they bought what was intellectually and visually provocative to them, regardless of market trends. They were early supporters of many artists who went on to become influential figures in the history of 20th century art.
The Schaffers’ collection demonstrates a deep interest in diverse stories told through art, from realistic portraiture to Dada-inspired inventions and intricate installations. A prevailing theme in their collection is the investigation of individuality and lived experiences—stories told with conceptual rigor and unconventional sensibilities. Not pigeonholed by specific artists, media, or concepts, the Schaffers are intrigued by art’s ability to capture the complexity of our world. The results are not always beautiful or easy to engage with. Each artist asks us to see ourselves in our full humanity—messy and vulnerable, complex and contradictory, joyful and alive.
See It Now is presented as part of the Tang Museum’s celebration of its 25th anniversary. The exhibition includes over a hundred artworks and is the catalyst for a series of oral history recordings that invite Skidmore students to be in dialogue with artists as part of the Art History seminar “The Artist Interview.”
Fifty years after purchasing their first works of art, the Schaffers remain ahead of the curve and continue to support emerging artists at important junctures in their practice. They invite us all not to wait. Experience, learn, see it now.
A conversation between Ann Schapps Schaffer ’62 and Eve Kreshtool ’23
Eve Kreshtool: When did you start collecting?
Ann Schaffer: There are different ways of collecting. One is going on vacation and taking pictures of your family and hanging those. That’s wonderful. To create an art collection, I feel you need some type of continuity; your soul has to run through it in a different kind of way. I grew up in New York City until I was 10 years old, and I used to go to museums all the time. My parents always had art in our home. When Mel and I got married and had kids, I was looking for courses to take while our children were in school. I took a class through the New School called “Collecting Art Successfully.” We went to Andrea Rosen’s art gallery and there was a stack of papers on the floor by Felix GonzalezTorres. I thought to myself, “Hmm, is this art? And why would anybody want to collect this?” Then we learned that Gonzalez-Torres was making work during the AIDS crisis when the vulnerability of his friends was front and center. Taking a sheet of paper from the stack was all about life and death and giving and taking. It made me think about generosity, loss, and sharing ideas and memories.
That woke me up to a different type of collecting. To begin with, we had more traditional art hanging in our apartment. But from that moment on, I knew that anything I wanted to display in our home was going to have deeper meaning than just what you see when you first look at it. It has to go deeper, it has to have a thought process or something that engages you, speaks to you, and challenges you on a regular basis.
EK: What motivated you to start collecting? Has that changed as your collection grew?
AS: When I took that New School class, I realized I wanted to be surrounded by things that engaged and challenged me. I was buying something here and there and sticking it under the bed because I didn’t want Mel to think I was becoming a compulsive art collector. But when he would come with me to an occasional class, he was interested in things that were bigger, and maybe even more important, than what I was buying. He was into things that were minimal, and I was interested in things that were chock-full on the canvas. But we both agreed on the thought process and getting to know the artists. Visiting studios was overwhelmingly important to us. We saw the process: from when they started with a line, when they started with a piece of clay, and what emerged from it.
EK: Does meeting the artists affect whether you collect their work or not?
AS: We have relationships with many of the artists in our collection. Very often a work will make me want to meet the artist and vice versa. If I meet an artist at an art event, I get more interested in what that artist does than I might have just by looking at a slide or an exhibit in a gallery. I think it enriches your life to hear the way an artist thinks and to see what they can create in many different mediums, from various materials or found objects. The dialogue that you have with them is very important.
EK: I read in an interview that you said you look for artists with a unique vision and vocabulary. How can you tell when an artist has that?
AS: I don’t ever buy something because I hear it’s a hot item or I hear that it’s going to be worth something. In the art world, at any point, figurative might be important, sometimes abstract might be important, sometimes sculpture or painting or fiber might be important. I don’t look for that. I look for a photograph or a painting or a drawing or a sculpture that’s saying something that, based on my experience, is fresh and has a vocabulary that’s new to me.
I remember when Ian Berry came to my house years ago, and he said, “Wow, you have so many great artists working in social justice, and you have inventive portraits by such a diverse group of artists.” I thought to myself, “Many of these themes were not ones that I set out to establish.” They were just important themes, whether there was something in current politics or something that was deeply embedded in my and my husband’s interests.
I think of Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince as the parents of our photography collection, and I think of Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Jim Hodges as the parents of our conceptual artworks. Then there are a host of artists that address social justice, many artists from the African diaspora, and important minimal artists that my husband loves. All of that is very carefully placed in our home. We don’t just hang art; the pieces have to speak to one another. We have art in corners, hanging from the ceiling, on the floor, outside…
EK: When you’re thinking about collecting an artist, do you think about how the work fits into your collection as a whole?
AS: We buy work by artists who are emerging who we think are important and fresh and new, but we also buy work by mid-career or established artists if we feel that we missed the boat because we weren’t ready for something earlier. As an example, many years ago, I was at a gallery where the video artist Tony Oursler’s work was being shown. There were small objects placed on tables and on the floor with weird, horrible sounds coming out that made you feel as though somebody was being trapped into a corner and psychologically tormented. So I thought, “Gee, this is really interesting.” Visually, it appeals to me, and it affected my senses. But I said, “It might be a onetrick pony, and I have to see where this artist is going; I’m not ready yet.”
Then we were in Europe several years later, and my husband and I were on the second level of a museum, and we heard familiar hidden sounds. And I said, “Oh my gosh, I wonder if that’s a Tony Oursler,” but I didn’t know where the sound was coming from. We were walking around, and under a table was one of these objects yearning to be free. At that point, I knew that I was ready to buy a Tony Oursler.
We have one in our dining room that looks like a giant frog, but it’s of Oursler himself. This particular object answers another theme that we have in our house: a yin-yang, a push-pull. You get drawn in because you don’t know what this eeriness is, but then you sort of jump away because… enough already! A lot of our oil paintings or drawings of faces aren’t an exact portrait of a face or a body. They are something uglier, creepier—they draw you in and push you away but are always well executed and recognizable as that artist’s work.
EK: Do you have specific collecting goals?
AS: Yes, to stop collecting! It’s like a passion that has almost turned into a sickness. When my husband and I go to an art show, we say to each other, “We’re not buying anything; we’re just going to look, learn and visit with the gallerists.” But what ends up happening is that one of us—usually whoever says, “I’m not buying anything” the loudest—sees something that is irresistible. Our goal is not to keep buying, but rather to enjoy what we have.
EK: You’ve donated over eighty artworks to the Tang. What about the Tang interested you in gifting works here?
AS: Mel and I were early founders of the Tang twenty-five years ago when we helped choose the architect, Antoine Predock. We contributed to its opening and worked with the first two directors. But to me, Ian Berry, the current director, is probably one of the best curators I’ve ever met. He’s one of the few people that walks into our home and recognizes almost everything we have. The publications of the Tang rival those of any museum. Students have opportunities as interns or having classes in the Tang, even when they aren’t art majors. Considering that the motto of Skidmore is “Creative Thought Matters,” for me, that started with the Tang. From its inception, the Tang has engaged closely with Skidmore students and faculty. It’s not just a building that displays art. We know that the artworks we contribute will be given the opportunity to become part of research, learning, and dialogues among students, artists and many disciplines throughout the college. The Tang is a model interdisciplinary art and teaching museum.
EK: I’d love to hear why you think collecting art is important, or why it’s important for you.
AS: People have always made art. It is a necessary means of expression, and our involvement with art, artists, curators, and other collectors gives added dimension to our lives. Mel and I go to many art events, and people always say to me, “How do you drag Mel to all of these museum exhibitions, gallery shows, artist visits, as well as entertaining so many groups in your home?” Easy—he’s usually the last one to leave.
We all spend much of our lives in our comfort zones. In the art world, challenging ideas come up, and there’s an interplay of opinion and experience which is diverse and exciting. It makes you feel alive because you’re engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds who are driven to express their thoughts and ideas. The common thread becomes the art.
See It Now: Contemporary Art from the Ann and Mel Schaffer Collection
Tang Museum, Skidmore College
September 13, 2025 – January 4, 2026
Montclair Art Museum
February 5 – July 5, 2026
Organized by Ian Berry, Dayton Director, Tang Museum with Rachel Seligman, Malloy Curator, and Jack McLaughlin ’25
Special thanks to Izzy DeSantis, Hilary duPont, Alisha Ferrin, Eve Kreshtool ’23, Nora Riccio, and Sylvie Ziefert ’26
Supported by Friends of the Tang
Photographs by Chris Mottalini
Design by Hilary duPont
Printed by Fort Orange
