Darla Moore’s Lake City Revival Includes Art Festival Modeled on Grand Rapids Art Prize: Darla Moore returned to Lake City, South Carolina with the hope of using the fortune she and her deceased husband, Richard Rainwater, had accumulated to restore some vitality to the town where she was raised. According to the New York Times, she borrowed a strategy from Michigan’s DeVos family:

• In a meeting with advisers, some of whom she had known since she was a girl, one talked about an art festival in Grand Rapids, Mich., that is supported by members of the DeVos family, whose wealth comes from Amway, the multilevel marketing company. Ms. Moore thought that doing something similar with art from Southeastern states might work in Lake City. That festival, ArtFields, is now in its sixth year. When it opens next Friday, 400 works of art will be on display in buildings that Ms. Moore has renovated and in downtown shops. One shop owner, Barbara Miles, met with controversy last year when she selected a provocative tapestry from the festival to hang in her store, the East Main Market. But Ms. Moore said she had decided the artwork should stay. “It was a real humdinger of an image,” she said. …

Sotheby’s Private Sales Coup: The coup here is Sotheby’s getting to The New York Times to write a breathless story about David Schrader and the firm’s private sales division. The only part of the story that will be news to readers here is the fact that Sotheby’s was able to work with the new owner of Auckland castle, Jonathan Ruffer,—whose newly restored Zurbarán paintings are currently on view at the Frick—to supplement Jacob and His 12 Sons with more Spanish Old Master paintings:

• “Jonathan invited me to his office in Victoria in London to discuss his proposal” in November 2016, recalled James Macdonald, Sotheby’s head of old master paintings private sales. Mr. Ruffer “acquired around 20 significant pieces through Sotheby’s, almost all through private sale.” Many came from private collections in Spain, but there were also purchases from France, Britain, Switzerland and Chile. The project took about 18 months, which Mr. Macdonald called “a remarkably short period of time.” Buying an equivalent collection at auctions, he said, would have taken “well over a decade.” …

Blockchain-mania Makes It to Christie’s … Sort Of: In Hiscox’s latest online art market report, Robert Read, the head of art and private clients at Hiscox writes, “The last year has really seen blockchain mania take off, with many claiming it can cure all the market’s ills.” Today, Christie’s announced the launch of a new Art + Tech Summit on July 17, 2018 to be held at the auction house’s King Street headquarters in London:

• “Bringing together thought leaders and industry experts from across sectors, this one day conference will explore the potential impacts of innovative technologies on the art world and market. The Summits are being held in association with Christie’s Education. Each year the Summit will highlight a different technology as its focus. 2018’s inaugural conference, ‘Exploring Blockchain – Is the art world ready for consensus?’ will deliberate on the potential applications this technology can provide to the art market.”