Stoney Goldstein,
Executive Vice President of Sales for
Park West

Stoney Goldstein is proud to be Executive Vice President of Sales for Park West, and is committed to helping Park West build the finest art auctioneering staff in the world.  Mr. Goldstein brings 15 years experience in the cultural industries, with an award winning track record in sales, training, and management. With 10 years of cruise industry experience and 6 years experience in the visual arts, Stoney brings great depth to his position as Executive Vice President of Sales.

Stoney has a history of leadership and innovation with Park West in various roles. As a former Principal Auctioneer representing Park West, Stoney consistently led strong shipboard art programs while setting new benchmarks for revenue and customer satisfaction. His ability to develop strong relationships with shipboard management has enabled him to successfully launch, develop, and manage art galleries and auction programs onboard Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian and Holland America Cruise Lines. His background and history of selling thousands of artworks at live auctions gives Stoney deep insight into the challenges and opportunities that Park West Auctioneers experience; he brings the management skills and experience needed to support and mentor the Park West Sales Organization

"One of my primary goals as Executive Vice President of Sales is to establish an unprecedented training program that prepares our trainees for success. I am passionate about the opportunity that Park West offers, and look forward to helping other young professionals with an entrepreneurial spirit discover just how exciting and rewarding this career path can be. With the recent restructuring of our sales organization, Park West is well positioned to not only provide world class training through Park West Academy, but also to provide opportunities for advancement to management and leadership roles for those who excel. This support structure provides our new trainees and sales team with incredible resources, which in turn helps us provide the highest level of service to both our new customers and established base of over 1.2 million clients."

Stoney has pioneered marketing strategies to attract and develop new collectors and brings to the position of EVP creativity and a broad understanding of the art market, art history, the economics of the art world, and the print market. He is currently completing his Masters Degree in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago, the largest and most diverse private visual, performing, media and communication arts college in the United States. Goldstein oversees all aspects of the Park West Academy training program.

"Those who are selected for the opportunity to become a Park West Auctioneer and manage an art program quickly discover how incredible the position really is. There is simply no other job in the world that offers the income potential, travel benefits, and opportunity to broaden ones cultural literacy while developing an invaluable skill set that lasts a lifetime."

 

Morris Shapiro
Gallery Director

Gallery Director Morris Shapiro is intricately involved in a number of Park West's daily operations, including the training of new and existing art auctioneers; the writing and administration of Park West's high-quality content on its art and artists; the direction and implementation of various marketing initiatives; the production of Park West's videos for use as internal training materials and marketing tools aboard the cruise ships Park West partners with; the supervision of Park West's research team; interacting with the public to present Park West's extensive collection of artwork; and assisting clients in the acquisition of fine art.

Shapiro's interest in art was sparked when he was just seven years old, growing up in Chicago. He recalls thumbing through a book on the Holy Land in his parents' library and coming across an image of Albrecht Durer's woodcut of Adam and Eve from the artist's renowned series, The Small Passion. "I was mesmerized by the contours and lines of the figures, and of Durer's use of space," Shapiro said. "From that moment on, I was smitten." Shapiro began drawing as a child, and went on to study at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1975 with an emphasis in art history, aesthetics, art criticism and studio art. After working for more than a year at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Shapiro returned to Chicago to pursue his other passion - music. After playing the drums professionally for a time, Shapiro began working as the gallery director for two of Merrill Chase Galleries' Chicago locations from 1977-1983.

In 1983 Shapiro joined Park West as its Gallery Director, having submitted a proposal to Park West founder and CEO Albert Scaglione to open a retail gallery for Park West. Today, Park West's 63,000-square-foot facility in Southfield, Mich. includes 23 spacious interior exhibition galleries, each devoted to a particular artist or type of art, with new collections completely filling the gallery on a regular basis.

Shapiro takes pride in playing an important role in a company that has redefined the model of how art is brought to and experienced by the world. "In many ways, art has been taken away from the people, and made less accessible," Shapiro said. "It is incredibly gratifying to be able to swing the pendulum back, bringing our art collections directly to the public, and allowing them to experience art first-hand." Shapiro also deeply enjoys his relationships with Park West's artists, working with them to develop their art and introducing it to the public.

Shapiro enjoys reading and writing about the subject he loves, and sharing his knowledge with the Park West team, as well as the public. "I'd like our company to be viewed as a great resource in the 21st century art world," Shapiro said. His relationship with the team at Park West is a collaborative one, rather than a top-down approach, and many of the staff members he works with view him as their teacher and art mentor. "It is my goal that all of our staff and salespeople be well-versed on their subject, so they can all represent Park West with integrity and depth," Shapiro said.

In his spare time, Shapiro enjoys reading, writing, listening to music and participating in jazz sessions, traveling through Europe and the United States with his wife and children. Shapiro is also a proud grandfather.

 

Lane Conner
Fleet Manager, Park West Gallery

Lane Conner first joined Park West in August 2005 after finishing an academic career at Southern Methodist University and the University of Oklahoma. Lane's background before joining Park West included day-to-day management of operations, sales, marketing, and promotions. Lane spent a very successful year and a half on ships as a full time auctioneer before being asked to join the shore side team as a recruiter and member of the sales management. During this time, Lane was not only instrumental in recruiting and training the sales force, but was also instrumental in the implementation of a new partnership with Costco in which art road shows were conducted at various Costco's throughout the United States.

In his current role as a Fleet Manager for Park West, Lane is in charge of all daily operations for the Royal Caribbean fleet as well as liaising with the cruise line itself. In conjunction with this, Lane still fills his previous role as a sales trainer during new hire training. He conducts certain aspects of the operational portion of training as well as the sales portion of training.

 

Paul Bielby
National Sales Manager, Plymouth Auctioneering

Paul Bielby has been passionate about sales and psychology since his first of many sales jobs selling magazines door to door when he was 12 years old. A debater throughout high school, he was the founder and former president of the Debating Society at Dawson College in Montreal. He then studied art history, classical studies, and English at the prestigious Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Paul has studied with some of the world's most successful sales experts, and his extensive, dedicated library of books on sales, psychology, marketing, management, copy writing, and public speaking reflect his life-long obsession with learning the art of influence and motivation.

One of the most successful Park West auctioneers for the past 5 years, Paul is also one of the few top performers that can also effectively teach what he does. When he is not teaching new recruits in Miami or helping auctioneers on the ships increase their sales, he enjoys going to comedy clubs, reading, and spending time with his wife Renee who is a professional photographer.