A members-only club brings artwork out of the gallery and into the home
In a city where you can have laundry, food, and pretty much everything else delivered to your door, New Yorkers are now adding contemporary artwork to the list.
Uprise Art, a members-only art collectors club based in NYC, has a unique mission statement: to bring together young collectors and rising stars in the contemporary art world through a white-glove “subscribe-to-own” service.
The art world is impenetrable, and deals are often done on a hand shake and behind closed doors. Tze Chun, a 28-year old artist and entrepreneur, wanted a way to connect the future collectors of the world with talented artists at an earlier point in both their careers. Her solution? Do away with the brick and mortar gallery and showcase artwork in people’s own homes, where they are more likely to fall in love with the artwork.
How it works: Uprise members select from a curated collection of exceptional contemporary art in the online gallery. These pieces are expertly custom framed, hand-delivered, and professionally installed in their apartments. All for US$50/piece per month. The best part, 100% of these dues are discounted from the purchase of the artwork, so members are investing in fine art without the hassle of galleries and at their own pace.
Launched in June of 2011, Uprise Art currently represents twenty-one artists and regularly hosts private previews, cocktail parties and studio visits where their members and artists can meet.
Tze Chun explains, “the goal is for collectors and artists to build long-term relationships more organically. Uprise removes the high price tag and pressure between the two and makes art collecting fun, easy, and enjoyable. Our members browse the online gallery and within a few days the work is brought to their homes and placed on their wall. They also receive extensive dossiers on their artists and actually meet them at our events. It couldn’t be easier! I figured, in a city where you can have someone deliver a packed picnic basket to you before you head to the park, we should be able to get artwork out of gallery storage and into the hands of people who want it.”
More information about Uprise Art can be found on their website, Facebook and Twitter.
good idea.