Virtuous Art Cycle

Fellows Society member Vanessa Grout is a native Floridian, real estate CEO, ad art enthusiast and collector. Through a donation to NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, she is sharing her passion for art with the South Florida community.

Grout grew up in Miami and Palm Beach, graduated from the University of Miami, and earned her law degree. After a few years of practicing law, she transitioned into a career in real estate, an arena in which she has found tremendous success.

“I gravitated toward real estate because I enjoyed the creation aspect and urban redevelopment. A developer, in essence, is someone who puts the entire conversation together and assembles the entire picture. The developer is the conductor, the orchestrator of the project,” said Grout.

In June 2020, Grout was named CEO of OKO Real Estate, a new venture to expand the sales and marketing capability of the OKO Group. In this new role, she will oversee projects in South Florida, New York, and other major U.S. cities.

A few years ago, the OKO Group, led by chairman and CEO Vladislav Doronin, helped NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale introduce the Julian Schnabel collection to the community. Since then, Grout has become an avid supporter of the museum, and as an art collector herself, participated in what she described as a “virtuous cycle.” After donating pieces that they feel can be shared with a larger audience, art owners can then use the tax benefits to recycle back into the art community by purchasing new art—as she was able to do.

Grout donated a piece of art by Ana Mendieta, a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter, and video artist, who is best known for her “earth-body” artwork. The piece was featured in the 2019 exhibition, Remember to React II: Drawings and Prints from the NSU Art Museum Collection.

“I had owned the piece for quite a while and enjoyed it in my home for many years,” said Grout. “In coming to understand Bonnie’s [Clearwater, museum director and chief curator] appreciation for the artist—she wrote a book about Mendieta a while ago–and understanding this was a piece that would be well received, I thought it was better in the hands of NSU than hanging in my living room.

“It doesn’t feel like an act of generosity – it just feels like the right thing to do,” she added. “I hope that others can recognize the importance of giving up a part of their own collection for the public’s enjoyment.”

Grout credits Clearwater with not only helping to amass a diverse collection of art, but also working to educate the public on a variety of artists and movements.

“The wonderful thing about the collection is that you don’t just feel the need to go once; you can return multiple times,” said Grout. “Bonnie has definitely taught me, as a collector and appreciator of art, that if you don’t understand the history, you can’t understand the now.”

In the future, Vanessa hopes to become more involved with the museum. “For me and my personal growth and enjoyment, you have to love what you’re doing. NSU Art Museum is something that I’ve been focused on, and I feel that I can make even more of a contribution.”