A cannabis industry CEO is applying the aggressive, data-driven tactics of his business to the art market, building a significant collection focused on underrepresented artists. Steve DeAngelo, co-founder of Harborside Inc., leverages his company's analytical approach to identify value and emerging trends, targeting works by artists of color, women, and LGBTQ+ creators that he believes are undervalued by the traditional market.
This matters because it represents a new kind of capital and strategy entering the art world, challenging more conventional, intuition-based collecting. DeAngelo's focus on equity and systemic change, driven by his activism in cannabis legalization, highlights a growing trend of collectors using their influence to directly reshape market dynamics and promote greater diversity, potentially accelerating both the financial and cultural recognition of marginalized artists.