Folks who love art and want to support local artists can now become part of the creative arts process by purchasing a share through the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council’s Community Supported Arts program.

The CSA program is the capstone of the Arts Incubator program, which is a series of workshops and events designed to teach artists business skills and to get them thinking about how they can make their art into a viable business.

The 2018 CSA artists are now hard at work on their projects and shares are available for purchase now. All shares will be completed in time for the June Art Crawl on June 26.

Those purchasing shares can follow their artist from the initial idea through the creative process.

The four artists participating in this year’s CSA program are Adrienne Brown-David, Steven Hopper, Carol Roark and Catherine Smith.

The artists receive all of the money generated from the sale of their shares, according to YAC Director Wayne Andrews.

“Unlike buying art this project invites community members to invest in an artists’ idea,” Andrews said. “Each share helps the artists achieve their goal. When the final project is complete those buying shares will both own a part of the project and know they helped make it happen.”

The CSA program specifically helps each artist develop a reproduce-able “product” that they can then take to markets and retailers.

“They also have the opportunity to introduce new people to their other products and pieces,” Andrews said.

Each artist receives $500 seed funding to purchase materials.

People can buy a single share from one artist, multiple shares, or several from various artists taking part in the program.

“It is all based on which project interests and excites you,” Andrew said.

This year’s CSA program will culminate in June with the June Art Crawl. The artists’ work will then be shown at The Powerhouse from June 4 through July 2.

“At that point, we transition the product to the artist, and they use the lessons in marketing to continue to sell the product,” Andrews said. “Our goal is to help artists create projects that build a following and recurring revenue.”

The artists applied to be part of the CSA in the fall through the Gallery Series Application through YAC. The application includes the community art shows, the art vending machine and the CSA program.

“We ask the artist to propose an idea based on our simple guidelines that require the project to be completed within a year, offer an ongoing opportunity to the artists, and expand their reach,” Andrews said.

 

For more information, visit oxfordarts.com or call YAC at 662-236-6429.