photo by Olaf Growald
Ariel Davis
A new, nationwide shopping initiative created to help artists earn for their work is gearing up to launch this holiday season.
Artists Sunday takes place Sunday, right between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.
According to a survey by Americans for the Arts, the arts and culture sector has taken a $14.1 billion hit and has estimated that over 96% of in-person festivals, art fairs, shows, and exhibitions have been canceled due to COVID-19.
This has impacted some of Fort Worth's local creative communities as well. Ariel Davis — member of the board of directors for Art Tooth, gallery manager at Artspace111, and a professional artist herself — tells Fort Worth Magazine that she’s seen the pandemic affect artists in two different ways.
“I saw that in my work, [quarantine] went well because I was in the studio more, and I had more time to create,” Davis says. “But with running Art Tooth, it had a huge impact on our art organization and fundraising. We usually put on events, and all of that money goes to artists and any other exhibitions we do, but now those shows are nonexistent because funding was completely wiped away.”
That’s why Artists Sunday is striving to raise awareness for local creators. The initiative looks to motivate potential patrons and consumers to shop the arts while providing artists with public relations tools and allowing them to sell on high-profile platforms.
Not only does the initiative help market artists and their work; it's also tailored toward specific and participating locations. Through the Artists Sunday website, locals can find artists and art within their city limits. For Fort Worth, this includes the Fort Worth Community Arts Center and the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association.
“This initiative will hopefully encourage people to purchase something small, and if every person made an effort to do so, it would have such a huge impact,” says Davis.
Artists Sunday continues to encourage the public to buy from the fine arts community and are currently promoting art deals for Black Friday. For more information, visit artistssunday.com.
