Photo Credit: Philadelphia Folklore Project At a packed house in Philadelphia's City Hall, Knight Foundation, in partnership with The City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy and Springboard for the Arts, recently launched Community Supported Art. The idea of Community Supported Art is based on the Community Supported Agriculture model, which allows local residents to buy food direct from local farmers. Laura Zabel, who serves as the executive director of Springboard for the Arts, created the program to help local artists with new works establish relationships with local “collectors.” In Philadelphia, eighteen artists have been selected by two local arts organizations to create 100 shares of the program. For $450, a “collector” can get nine pieces from local artists selected by Grizzly Grizzly a local arts collaborative and for $350, a collector can get pieces from nine artists at Philadelphia Folklore project. Each organization will sell fifty shares. Once all the shares are sold, artists and collectors come together throughout the year for “pick up” events, where collectors pick up their artwork and have a chance to meet the artists. It is a model where everyone wins, artists get paid for their work, everyday people like me get to become collectors and our dollars stay in Philadelphia supporting our own.
