Andy Warhol, Pioneer

An arts patron says he would be on the cutting edge of art and business.

Everything Andy Warhol did as portraitist, publisher, publicist or salesman counted as components in one boundless work. Robert J. Levin

To the Editor:

“The Indelible Warhol Inc.,” by Blake Gopnik (Arts & Leisure, Nov. 4), offers timely insights into the relationship between business and art. Andy Warhol was a pioneer beyond the studio and in the marketplace through what he termed Business Art.

Mr. Gopnik mentions contemporary artists who have followed suit but misses an opportunity to highlight what’s new at the nexus of business and art: creatives who start social-purpose businesses.

Artists and designers are using their skills to start profitable businesses that also deliver benefits for the environment, for workers and for communities. Many of these companies are seeking investors who share their values of inclusion, equity and sustainability.

If Andy Warhol were here today, he would no doubt be on the cutting edge of art and businesses, which means that he would be a social entrepreneur making change through the creative economy.

Laura Callanan
New York
The writer is the founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab, a nonprofit that promotes socially responsible investing in the creative economy, and a former senior deputy chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.