Recognizing that artists rarely have a pension, the AAF will establish the African Artists’ Foundation Trust Fund to protect the legacy of aging artists. The AAF will work with insurers, appraisers and art galleries to value works by aging artists and buy these works at a fair price in order to support the artist. The AAF will then either retain the work as part of its permanent collection or sell at such time as the market offers a favourable price. Revenues earned from the sale of these works will be reinvested in the pension fund so that additional works may be purchased in the future. This fund will ultimately be a self-supporting endowment fund ensuring that a recognized artist’s work will be purchased at a reasonable price during the artist’s lifetime.

The value of the program is twofold: aging artists are spared the ravages of poverty in their declining years and the necessity of selling their life’s work at a fraction of its true worth, and young artists are less apt to be deterred from a life in the arts with the existence of what will ultimately serve as a financial safety net for artists recognized for a lifetime of achievement.