CONTEMPORARY ART, DEMOCRATICALLY PRICED New Currencies and Economies in the Arts

SAN FRANCISCO - Nov. 12, 2014 - PRLog -- The currency is the sharing of contemporary ideas, contemporary art. It’s a non-monetary currency and it encourages people to appreciate the arts, to collect and enjoy art in their daily lives. What is a successful transaction in an economic exchange with this currency? It’s helping someone to become a new collector. The arts have been separated from the larger public’s daily lives. People may go to a gallery or museum occasionally, but to have art for one’s own home is something that is lost to most people these days. To recover that connection, to bring art into people’s homes and daily lives--meaning contemporary art, not mass produced decorative art from big-box stores made in factories instead of art studios--requires making art that people can afford.

Democratic arts, arts in daily life, and affordable art sales are not new ideas. It’s an intentional choice for artists to create art within this framework and there is an influx of artists doing it today. The hope is people will buy art, as they would a nice book, like something you might be excited to find and buy in an independent bookstore on a Saturday evening, after dinner or drinks out, and it becomes a part of your home.

San Francisco Bay Area artist Jason Engelund has just launched an online art shop Studio 3663. Jason describes his decision to launch an online store.

“The idea came after I participated in "Valuing Labor in the Arts: A Practicum" hosted by the Arts Research Center of University California Berkeley and Art Practical in the spring of 2014. Conversations and ideas about art economies, institutions, and how the public engages with the arts were shared. Artists voiced experiences and ideas such as: “My friends and family can’t really afford my bigger pieces of art that are in a gallery or an exhibition.” “Too many non-profit and even well known museums don’t pay the artists when they exhibit. They pay everyone else involved, even the plumber, but not the artist!” and “I’m looking to build multiple income streams for my studio.”

Jason, who has worked in community arts for more than a decade adds: "The arts enrich our lives, yet there’s a gap between fine art and most people’s daily life. I want to bridge the gap between the gallery market and the larger public who has lost touch with collecting fine art for their home. Whether it’s the proximity to a city and a gallery district, or the price tags, I wanted to make fine art more accessible to more people. With inspiration from the artists’ conversations at “Valuing Labour in the Arts”, I started to see this as a new studio project, in what was essentially a social practice with a grassroots approach. Similar to community supported farmers’ markets, buying direct, buying local, I decided to make artworks that are affordable to more people. Vitalizing people's daily life with art is a passion I have worked towards for years through community arts, and with democratically priced contemporary art, I've created a way to do that with fine art.”

Visit STUDIO 36663 online art shop at http://mkt.com/studio-3663.

A curated show in a gallery or museum still can’t be beat. Seeing a piece of art in person is better than buying online. And you’re still going to find the best art in galleries and museums. The gallery and serious collectors are trading at a reserve level managed by professionals. However, the affordable art market augments the gallery and museum circuit by providing more accessibility to a broader public. The new art shops and affordable arts are filling a niche; where more people connect with artists and experience having new artworks in their homes. It’s a social practice, a choice artists can make to offer contemporary art to more people.

About
STUDIO 3663 is an online art shop featuring Jason Engelund’s contemporary art, democratically priced. It's an art shop where you’ll find his books, signed, editioned, small prints and more.
Visit http://jasonengelund.com