Last week, The Boston Globe reported on a new site called ArtLifting, which works with local art therapy programs to help their artists sell work. The site, founded by brother-sister duo Spencer and Liz Powers, assists artists who are homeless or disabled, giving them the option of online sales, which directly helps the artist and the art therapy programs as well. Check out these pieces by four of the organization’s artists and learn a bit about the folks behind them.
“One thing that we’re really proud of in ArtLifting’s model is that for every piece sold, the art therapy program where it was created is also empowered,” says Liz Powers, 25. “So even people in art therapy programs who aren’t creating particularly sellable work are still benefitting from it.”
Liz Powers formerly founded City Heart, an annual art show at the mall at the Prudential Center for homeless and low-income artists.
“Customers were always asking us when the next show was, because they loved the artwork so much, but we really only had the capacity to do it once a year,” says Spencer Powers, 29. “With ArtLifting, we wanted to develop an ongoing and sustainable marketplace for art therapy art.”
The duo has already seen success with ArtLifting, selling prints and even making iPhone cases out of artists’ works. They hope to expand to other programs and cities. If you’re in need of some holiday gifts, look no further than ArtLifting’s website.
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