I am going to attempt to illustrates the kind of deception that grantLOVE Project does when it comes to purchasing items earmarked for certain charities. This one is going to be about the current grantLOVE x OCMA pop-up shop. On October 15th, OCMA both opened a curated show of Alexandra Grant's "Telepathy is one step further than Empathy" as well as a grantLOVE x OCMA pop-up shop, the profits of which go to a "Funds for Artist".
On November 21st, 2020, due to Covid-19, the shop was temporarily closed but continuing online. This was posted on Instagram by OCMA and reposted by grantLOVE Project. They clearly list a url to follow in order to get a full listing of the items for sale that benefit the charity and where to purchase them (see below).
https://www.grantlove.com/collections/grantlove-x-ocma-pop-up-shop
When you follow that link it takes you to a page where this is the banner at the top. (see below).
"Please join us at the grantLOVE x OCMA pop-up shop at the Orange County Museum of Art. The pop-up shop is a fundraising project to bring more and diverse artists into the museum’s permanent collection. Profits from the grantLOVE x OCMA pop-up shop will go towards the grantLOVE x OCMA Fund for Artists, allowing the museum to acquire one or multiple works created by women-identified or non-binary artists from California and the Pacific Rim.
All of these items are available for pick-up at OCMA!"
Clearly all the items below the banner are meant to benefit the grantLOVE x OCMA Fund, correct? Lets' pick one.
The selected item mention the grantLOVE x OCMA pop-up shop, so it looks like this item is good and will benefit the charity. Off we go to checkout.
Everything seems good. We have our purchase and we can feel certain that it will benefit the charity in question, so we proceed with our purchase.
That is what the average consumer would think and do.
Unfortunately, that's not the case.
Notice that I highlighted an "add order notes" section in the checkout picture. The reason that is there is because if you are purchasing an item to benefit the grantLOVE x OCMA fund, and are having it delivered outside of Orange County, you must put a note on your purchase that you want your purchase to benefit that fund. I AM NOT JOKING ABOUT THIS. At no point during the purchasing process is this highlighted to you. The only reason I knew to look for this is because of this Instagram post by OCMA (see below).
I was wondering why they would make a post and ask people to add OCMA in the notes section for their purchases? Why would this be required? Weren't these purchases already supposed to be benefiting them and only them? That's certainly what they made it sound like by reading the banner on the web page.
So, I did a little digging. Turns out, if you click on the highlighted "grantLOVE x OCMA pop-up shop" on the item you are purchasing, it takes you to another page where there is long explanation of the fund, the exhibit, etc. and at the very bottom of that long page is this lovely disclaimer (see below)...
Talk about a "bait and switch" on who will benefit from these funds! I'm not even sure if I can call it that? Normally, in a "bait and switch", the consumer is AWARE that something is different about the purchase than what was intended. In this case, grantLOVE Project seems to be deliberately making this "switch" as obscure and hard to find as possible.
How many people have been duped by this?
How many people will be duped by this?
The pop-up shop will be active until March 2021. These items are available for purchase WORLDWIDE. This is an ongoing deception that very likely fools the majority of the consumers that purchase these items
How can grantLOVE Project be diverting funds from products clearly identified as being sold for the purpose of benefiting one charity to… Where? They are not even identifying where these diverted profits are going and who will benefit from them!! It's outrageous!! If I made a purchase wanting to benefit the grantLOVE x OCMA Fund and didn't notice this in time, I would be livid!!! What right have they to do this? It's unethical!!
What is also troubling to me is that OCMA is clearly aware of this since they obviously felt the need to make that Instagram post asking people to put OCMA in the note. To me, this indicates that some kind of deal between Alexandra Grant and OCMA was struck, where the proceeds of the sale of items during the pop-up shop would be used as compensation for them exhibiting her "Telepathy is One Step Further than Empathy" series in their museum. I believe Alexandra Grant is using grantLOVE Project and its charitable earnings as payment for others (Museums, galleries, etc...) promoting her solo art career (separate from grantLOVE Project). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe this is referred to as "self-dealing".
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/self-dealing.asp
In fact, if you pay close attention to the description of the "grantLOVE Project x OCMA Fund for Artists" you will see that the fund is not benefiting artists directly. The funds are in fact going to OCMA so that they can expand their permanent collection. This is not charity. This is trade.
I believe the only reason OCMA made that Instagram post is because they felt they were not getting their fair share of the pie. Whatever agreement was made between Alexandra Grant and OCMA was likely based on items sold at the pop-up shop physically. When that could no longer happen (due to Covid), things were renegotiated and I believe this is what they came up with and what was agreed upon.
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