Tell me about The Plaid Moose Gallery...
The Plaid Moose Gallery is an online gallery that provides a platform for emerging artists to launch their art careers, and established artists to find new audiences. It is also a platform that raises funds for local art organizations. The Plaid Moose Gallery and its supporters - support the arts - by selling and buying art, and participating in fundraising efforts.
The anchor artist and founder of the gallery is Linda French. Rather than just start a website for selling her own art, Linda wanted to use her investment of time and energy - to support the broader art community in Canada. The gallery opened its online doors in early May and plans to add a new artist most months. There are currently artists getting their collections ready for August, September, October and November. Each month the existing artists will also be invited to add more to their collections.
The gallery currently charges a nominal administration fee to the artists. Artists are embracing the intentions of the gallery to raise funds for local arts. Lorena Mibelli asked that 10% of her sales be donated by the gallery to the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation to support the Therapeutic Art program. Further artists who have been asked to participate in an in person Pop Up event in October (at the White Box Studio) - will each determine their own donation after the show as payment for participation in the event. The gallery will then make the agreed donations in support of local arts organizations. This is a unique business model that is being tested. Most galleries charge in the range of 25-40% which also means that the art prices have to be increased to ensure that the artist receives a living wage from their art.
When the art collectors purchase the art from the site, they can know that most of the money is going to the artist, or donated as indicated in the descriptions. The shipping and handling of the art is completed by each individual artist - and the fees collected for this purpose are provided to the relevant artists. In most cases the shipping costs slightly more and these artists are carrying that cost themselves.
The art in the gallery will be an eclectic assortment of paintings, prints, textile and other handmade useable arts - weaving, knitting, pottery and jewelry. Currently the artists are all located in Canada. Much of Linda French's work celebrates Alberta through local landscapes. In the coming months you can expect to see pottery, mixed media collage, animal paintings, and some more prints and watercolours. In 2022 the gallery will be looking for artists from other provinces to also participate. Please let us know if you have any recommended artists for consideration.
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