Like the rest of the art world, COVID-19 has forced us to pause our popular art workshops and exhibitions programme and we have definitely seen a change in our customers’ buying habits. Price sensitivity and size are becoming even more important factors in decision-making and we have also noticed a shift in people buying with a space in mind rather than making the space fit the artwork as people spend time adding beauty to their homes. We have also seen a positive trend in buyers wanting to support artists through these challenging times. We have been overwhelmed by the uptake to our Mini Originals range specifically designed to encourage artists to continue creating and provide financial support during the crisis which is a testimony to the wave of kindness and compassion being experienced.
With the marked increase in online activity by competitors in the art market, it is paramount for us to continue to provide a strong connection between our artists and buyers which has always been a fundamental principle of our brand. Fostering a strong community between our artists is at the heart of what we do and like many others, we have turned to platforms such as Zoom as a way of keeping our artists’ community active and Instagram has played a vital part in reaching our audience.
Through our daily interactions with our artists, we have noticed an interesting shift happening in the art being produced under the lockdown as sources of inspiration are confined to inside the artist’s home. Most importantly, we are pleased to see our artists experimenting with new media that can be sourced during the lockdown and challenge themselves by exploring new ideas or techniques.
As we look forward, post-lockdown, we have taken the time to reflect on the long-lasting impact that this will have on our business and we are excited to share with our customer’s new opportunities and collaborations we have been working on soon. We look forward to finding new innovative ways to experience art and bring artists and buyers together.
To Be Continued.
Press release published in Harvard Edu blog in May 2020
