Brooklyn launches NYC’s 1st community supported art program

August 20, 2013 Brooklyn Eagle
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Putting a creative twist on Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSA) in which people invest in a local farm and enjoy monthly deliveries of fresh produce, a new program debuting today gives New Yorkers the opportunity to purchase shares in exchange for artwork yet to be created by a curated group of local and emerging artists and designers.

Part of a national movement with outposts in more than 40 communities across the country, Brooklyn Community Supported Art + Design (CSA+D) is the first program of its kind to launch in New York City. Representing an affordable and exciting new way to collect art and support local and emerging artists and designers, Brooklyn CSA+D offers a fresh alternative to the commercial gallery system, which can be prohibitively expensive and daunting to many people. The goal is to build real connections between shareholders and local artists that will inspire new relationships and the potential for future purchases of artwork.

The concept is simple. Through a juried process, artists and designers are chosen to create pieces which can range across several disciplines, potentially including painting, printing, sculpture, textile, decorative objects, ceramics, music, lighting, t-shirt, collage and books. Shares are available for purchase at two price points:  $500 for 6 pieces and $250 for 3 pieces for the Fall 2013 inaugural season.  Shareholders will pick up their artwork at special event in September and October 2013 in Brooklyn, where they will have an opportunity to meet the artists and other shareholders.

Artists participating in the Fall 2013 season were selected from a pool of more than 300 applicants by a panel of jurors that included: Charles Hively, editor of 3×3, The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration; Kathleen Massara, senior editor at Christies.com and former arts and culture editor at The Huffington Post; and Sue Walsh, senior designer at Milton Glaser Incorporated.

The initial six selected artists for the Fall 2013 season include: illustrator Julia Gaultieri, multi-disciplinary design studio Chiaozza, sculptor Katerina Usvitsky, multi-disciplinary designer Hannah June Lueptow; painter Evan Venegas and illustrator Niv Tishbi. A second group of six artists selected by the juror panel will be announced in the coming weeks.

Brooklyn CSA+D  is co-founded by Brooklyn residents Dianne Debicella and Jill Allyn Peterson. Debicella is the Senior Program Director for Fiscal Sponsorship at Fractured Atlas, the nation’s largest arts service organization, and Peterson is a designer specializing in designing smart+sustainable home/office products, websites for socially conscious businesses and non-profits, and strategies for public space.

“A lot of people want to collect contemporary art and design, but have no idea where to start,” said Debicella.  “This is a fun and exciting way to begin building a collection and, most importantly, forge a real connection to emerging artists and the local arts community.”

The first Community Supported Art program was launched by Springboard for the Arts in the Twin Cities in the summer of 2010. Based on the success of the program, Springboard for the Arts developed a replication kit for individual artists or arts groups interested in launching a CSA anywhere in the world. The program is made possible in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

 

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