Calling All Artists!

Many (too many) years ago, I called together all the artists I knew to pitch a concept. I thought if we pooled our resources we would create a first-of-its-kind business model for African American artists.  Something that would benefit us all. We would advertised together, buy booths together at the high end Art Buyer Caravan shows and other international the trade shows, travel to the arts festivals together, buy printing and framing equipment to print up all of our work and frame it--the whole nine yards....

Then the Recessions came. Then the bootlegged black art from China and Turkey began flooding into our communities. People started selling faked black art on cheap paper in cheap frames, already boxed with a handle on it for $30. The garbage was sold out of trucks and vans. It started showing up in flea markets and still hangs in the windows of strip mall hair stores.  

Most of the galleries that had been in business for decades were run out of business.

Spring forward to NOW.  There's a new concept from a company called JARO that combines art, art education, convenience, and mobility. JARO is a startup that provides an on-line destination for sharing and preserving the art, history, and culture of the African Diaspora. Here's the good part:

• JARO features an revenue-share structure that allows artists, filmmakers, writers, and musicians a financial share in their success   

Subscribers to JARO have the ability to curate their own art collection that they can view on high definition devices in their own home AND they can connect directly to the artist when they're ready to make a purchase. 

My wife and I are co-Curators for Acquisitions for JARO.

We're working with JARO to build the largest database of fine ethnic art on the planet. If you're an artist and you're interested in seeing your audience widen exponentially, go back to my home page and click on the JARO link in the header. You'll submit ten high definition images of your work, write a brief description of each, and send a bio and head shot. These are things every real artist should be able to do with the push of a few buttons.

Artist signing with JARO receive a brief contract that says JARO has permission to publicly exhibit and stream your work (along with mine) for a year, and they have permission to send people to your website to purchase work from you for a year.  JARO takes NOTHING. You get worldwide exposure and dividends from advertisers Ready? Check JARO out.

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