The line between art and business has always been thin, and now a local startup wants to blur it even more. ArtsAlly is hoping to bring together artists and businesses in a non-traditional model that promotes community ahead of its profit.
The brainchild of Michelle Martin, Marley Bathe and Jibe’s Steve Krueger and Francis Pilon, Arts
Ally is a website that lets local art lovers find local artists’ work, and a business that looks to get local artists’ work into the halls and boardrooms of Vancouver businesses.
“But that’s just a really long way of explaining that I just wanted to bring together two different markets online,” said Michelle Martin, a former journalist and BC Hydro communications adviser who is also an MBA candidate at Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Beedie School of Business. “It’s a way to use technology to create broader connections within the community.”
Vancouver businesses looking to weed out the generic motivational posters and big box prints, and instead stock workspaces with homegrown talent, can use ArtsAlly’s subscription service to rent or buy art that will be rotated every three to six months.
Artists who sell or rent their art through ArtsAlly get 70% of the profit – a break from the traditional 50-50 split at most art galleries.
ArtsAlly is also the benefactor of the Venture Connection program offered by SFU’s Innovation Office. Started in 2008, the technology incubator was, along with the University of Waterloo’s, one of the first of its kind.
The program pairs SFU students and alumni with serial entrepreneurs and mentors and offers workshops and expert guidance.
“There’s a lot of accelerator programs and incubator programs that have popped up lately,” said Michelle Unrau, the program’s manager, who is based out of SFU’s Surrey campus.
“But most of them require either that you pay a fee to use their services or they will take a percentage of equity in the business. So Venture Connection does neither.”
Venture Connection is partially funded by Coast Capital Savings and so far has helped more than 120 early-stage startups. Martin, who quit a lucrative position at BC Hydro to chase her dream, said it’s all about creating a new economy in which the bottom line is no longer the key word.
“There’s some room for a little heart and soul that aren’t IKEA prints or HomeSense prints and that supports someone in your community. And so we want to make it really easy for people to make that step and support local art.”
