4:00 pm on Tuesday October 15, 2013
| Posted by chssupportedart
Charleston Supported Art (CSA) seeks local, emerging and established artists for inaugural year
Modeled after the popular Community Supported Agriculture movement in which consumers invest in a local farm and receive monthly deliveries of fresh produce, a new program is set to launch in early 2014 that will give Lowcountry art lovers the opportunity to purchase shares in exchange for original art created by a curated group of local, emerging and established artists. The program, Charleston Supported Art (CSA), is part of a nationwide movement that has already spread to over 40 communities across the country and is the first of its kind in Charleston.
CSA’s exciting new model of art sponsorship and distribution supports artists in the creation of new work. Overall, eighteen artists will be selected through a juried process and receive a stipend of $1500 to create 32 pieces of fine art or fine craft, such as paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textile, jewelry, and more. The program consists of three seasons per year with six artists per season – Spring/Summer, Fall and Winter. Shareholders will receive a total of 6 original works per season, one from each artist. Seasonal shares will be available for purchase at $450 beginning in February 2014 .The shares will be delivered through special pick-up events for each season.
The program aims to foster new relationships between buyers and artists with the potential for future art purchases. “People are more inclined to purchase and support a product that they feel a connection with,” says Kristy Bishop, visionary and co-founder of the program. “CSA offers a means to create that connection, providing artists a platform to showcase their talents to new audiences and allowing patrons to learn the story of the art and artist behind the work.”
For artists, the advantage to participate in CSA extends far beyond the monetary stipend. Being a CSA artist means that your work is guaranteed to find a home with 32 patrons who may wish to deepen the relationship by buying additional work in the future. Visual artists interested in participating in a season of CSA’s inaugural year should apply to the open call jury process set for November 1-December 2, 2013, through www.CharlestonSupportedArt.com.
Charleston Supported Art founders include Kristy Bishop, Camela Guevara, Stacy Huggins, Karen Ann Myers, Erin Glaze Nathanson, AnneTrabue Nelson and Ann Simmons.
Comments
We're glad you think so! Now,
We're glad you think so! Now, to address your questions...
Yes, 32 original seems like a lot, but is actually on the low end compared to many of the other art CSAs we researched who typically require artists to produce 50 works. While some artists who apply may plan to create 32 entirely new pieces of work for the program, it is likely that some will already have pieces completed or in progress by the time the selections are made. Selected artists will be notified in January and the first season of shares will not be delivered until around May.
The amount per piece that the artist receives may not seem like much, but we stand by the idea that the advantage of participating in Charleston Supported Art extends far beyond the monetary stipend. CSA provides artists with a marketing platform. In addition, being a CSA artist means your work is guaranteed to find a home with 32 patrons who may wish to deepen the relationship by buying additional work in the future. Our aim is to help artists build relationships with buyers.
All revenue generated through the sale of shares that remains after the artists are paid is dedicated to expenses such as packaging for delivery of artwork, print material promoting our call to artists and each of the 3 seasonal shares, website, licenses/accounting/legal, production of special events, etc. There are no salaries being paid and no "profit" being made. Maybe one day, but not for this go around :)
Thanks for the informative
Thanks for the informative explanation!
This is an excellent idea! But don't you think 32 original pieces of art is a lot for each artist to produce in one season for just one program? $46.88 isn't much to pay the artist to produce per piece of "fine" art/craft. If they are sold effectively for $75 each, where does the 37.5% commission go?