Virtual art's a reality (February 2006)
Art Evolution was reviewed by Grace Scott of The Journal Culture, highlighting the wide appeal of the gallery.
Art Evolution promises to marry marketability with artistic creations, Grace Scott logs on to find out more, Victoria Anderson launched her own business a year ago with very definite objectives. After detecting a shortage of outlets for artists, and picking up on a Iack of marketing skills among the said group of creatives, Victoria decided to put her own skills to good use and right the two wrongs she had found.
Art Evolution, an online art gallery offering for sale more than 800 pieces from B0 artists has recently celebrated its first birthday - with "celebrate" being the operative word. "lt's been a great first year" says Victoria from the company headquarters in Gosforth, Newcastle. Awareness of the site is growing all the time and we receive enquiries regularly from all over the world to buy art online, particularly from ex-pats wanting iconic images of the North-East."
Logging onto the site, it's easy to see how it has secured its wide appeal. Photography, paintings, sculpture and film are all on offer for as little as £25 or as much as £2,500.
In addition, the site offers "try before you buy" and rental services for pieces which provides an alternative method of enjoying the available work.
According to Victoria, it's all about bringing together some well-founded business principles with the artwork produced. "All my background is business related - in sales and marketing," she explains. "l worked with some artists and I realised that there weren't that many outlets for their work." But that wasn't the only problem. "ln the main, artists are not very good at marketing themselves. They know they want to be known and they want to sell their work, but they're not sure how to make it happen. That's where we come in."
In the 12 months since opening, Art Evolution has built up a wide range of customers, from corporate clients and interior designers to individuals. lt has also logged more than 5,000 new users in the past six months.
"We launched quite quietly and eased our way into the market. But things are going really well. There are lots of the artists on our site which we think will do well."
To get the business up and running, Victoria needed financial support to buy equipment, including a laptop and a high-quality scanner, to enable online display of the artists' work. She secured a Tyne and Wear Small Business Grant, funded by the TyneWear Partnership, to buy the technology she needed. The grant is funded via Single Programme Funding from One NorthEast and offers up to f5,000 to start-up companies based in Tyne and Wear and those yet to begin trading.
Victoria says: "The help I received from TyneWear Partnership when I started was invaluable and I simply couldn't have begun trading without it. My first year in business has been a roller-coaster ride and I am now looking forward to building on the success we've achieved and growing our customer base further."
April 15, 2006 10:03am
More articles »
- Art Evolution adds a touch of decadence (March 2006)
- Art house! (March 2006)
- Five minutes with Victoria Anderson (March 2006)
- Virtual art's a reality (February 2006)
- Art Evolution named 'One to Watch' by North East Times (February 2006)
- Save 15% at Art Evolution with the Journal Culture Club (February 2006)
- Evolution in changing rooms (December 2005)
- Private viewing.... (November 2005)
- Art Evolution is State of the Art (October 2005)
- Matchmakers Bring Artists and the Public Together (12th September 2005)