"The beginning is the most important part of the work." - Plato 

The Art Legacy Institute has been in the making for 20 years.

Founded by former members of the FBI Art Crime Team, ALI was born from a deep passion for protecting art and the people who create it. Since the team’s establishment in 2004, we have seen firsthand the devastating scale of art fraud — millions, even billions of dollars in fakes infiltrating the market. In confronting these threats, one truth became clear: the art world lacked dedicated systems to protect artists and preserve their legacies.

The Art Legacy Institute was created to fill this need — to educate, to safeguard, and to stand as an organization devoted entirely to artists and their enduring legacy.

Our Pillars of Legacy Protection

Our mission rests on three core pillars — areas where we’ve already made critical progress, and where your support will help us go further:

  • Legacy Catalog — Our flagship project. Built with the Amazon Web Services nonprofit team, the Legacy Catalog is nearing completion. It has been developed with industry-standard security at its core and designed by a world-class team to ensure easy adoption by artists. More than a tool, it is a long-term safeguard: simple enough for everyday use, yet robust enough to preserve an artist’s complete body of work. Each catalog is meant to serve the artist during their lifetime and endure as a trusted record for future generations.

  • FeaturePrint — A breakthrough patented technology that creates a digital fingerprint of each artwork. This innovation gives artists, collectors, and institutions a powerful provenance tool — and in 2026, we will roll it out broadly through our platform.

  • Education — We have already taken first steps through interviews and outreach, raising awareness about the need to safeguard artistic legacy. As this mission matures, we will grow a dedicated education program that equips artists, collectors, and the public with tools and knowledge for long-term protection.

Together, these pillars form the foundation of a more trusted art world — one where every artist’s voice is preserved and every legacy endures.