RENÉE VARA

Renée is a cultural entrepreneur, advisor, curator, and artist advocate. Her area of research focuses on the intersection of contemporary art, economics, and creative rights to establish pragmatic solutions to artistic preservation.

The founder of VARA ART, Renée has over 25 years of experience within the fields of postwar, contemporary, and emerging art. Prior to her independent practice, she served as the National Fine Art Specialist for Chubb Insurance and managed mega-collections on behalf of Artnews top 200 collectors for over a decade. 

Renée has been cited in more than 40 major media outlets including the Art Newspaper, Forbes, Artnews, The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. To promote public access to the arts, she is an active public lecturer and educator, sharing her experience with more than 50 organizations and institutions. In her efforts in the production of contemporary culture, she has curated more than 40 public art shows at international venues, including Art Basel|Miami, Venice Biennale, and Istanbul Biennale.

She is an award-winning, Certified Appraiser tested in 4 areas of fine art specialization. The youngest professional board member, Renée served two terms on the Executive Committee of the Appraiser’s Association of America (AAA), where she collaborated to set art market industry standards, credentials & codified professional practices. 

She actively educates the next generation of art professionals at various higher institutions. An award-winning faculty, she taught at NYU for over a decade in Art Market Studies, Art Business, and Art History. Also, an appointed lecturer at the Guggenheim|NY, and guest lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute and Carnegie Mellon University, she holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art History, with distinction. 

Renée is a legal art expert and practicing artist rights advocate, participating in significant cases such as the landmark Vara litigation, 5Pointz v. G&M Realty. She has also testified in successful cases including State Street Global Capital v. Visbal [Fearless Girl]; Heritage Corp. v. Christie's; and Hilti Family Trust v. Knoedler Gallery. 

email: renee@varaart.com

DANIEL KIM

Daniel Kim is the Associate Appraiser & Advisor at VARA ART, where he has been working for four years. He is Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) compliant through March 10, 2025.

Daniel graduated from NYU with a double degree: a BFA in Photography from the Tisch School of the Arts and a BA in Art History from the College of Arts and Sciences. Before joining VARA ART, he applied his studies to the art market, working for The Winter Show, and photographing for brands including Intel, Nike, Orange Theory Fitness, and Chico’s. Additionally, he gained extensive experience working as a Studio Assistant for Alan Sonfist, the historical Time Landscape artist, and has extensive registrar experience as an Archivist with iconic photographer Mark Seliger, where he digitalized his artistic output dating back to the 1980s. Daniel is also a Phase One Certified Professional and enjoys working on photography sets as a digital technician.

His aesthetic interests extend to photography, where he interrogates cultural formulas of “beauty” in relation to the traditions of still life and portraiture. He continues to enjoy working as an art educator for youths in his free time, and he savors the outdoors, including surf culture, reminiscent of his native Southern Californian upbringing.

email: daniel@varaart.com

YUNGCHING (ANITA) HUANG

YungChing (Anita) Huang is a Research Assistant at VARA ART, who graduated with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2023, where she earned a BFA in Graphic Design. During her undergraduate studies, her work experiences honed her expertise in developing compelling visual identities and a deep understanding of the role and function of arts institutions. 

Prior to VARA ART, she worked at ZX Ventures in Shanghai, where she collaborated with sales and marketing in conceptualizing marketing campaigns and designing product packaging for brands including Hoegaarden, Patagonia, and Goose Island. She also has assisted Miki Rai, a Seattle-based content creator for whom she strategically increased subscription and engagement with new viewers on YouTube with unique engagement campaigns.

Currently a Graduate Student in the Arts Administration program at Teachers College Columbia University, Anita’s research interests focus on storytelling and crafting narratives as a medium to connect with others. Stories can be utilized as teaching tools that allow listeners to see other’s life experiences. She sees stories as a shared space for understanding, connection, and collective meaning-making that transcends cultural boundaries. In her graduate studies, she is actively exploring how to integrate her deep design background into the strategic application of building story campaigns through equity and fairness to contribute to a shared commitment for authentic communications in the art market. 

In her free time, she enjoys traveling and cooking new recipes with her loved ones.

email: anita@varaart.com