2016 was a year of tremendous growth for ArtLifting. After securing $1.3 million in seed funding in July of 2015 from investors like Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, and Eric Ries, author of Lean Startup, our team has worked tirelessly to reach several milestones.
This past year alone, we onboarded more than 60 artists nationwide and now proudly represent 112 artists impacted by homelessness or disability in 19 states. We’re thrilled to support individuals whose perseverance and creativity inspire us every day. From Los Angeles-based artist Eric Santamaria who paints with the wheels of his wheelchair to war veterans who use art to heal, we’re excited to share their stories and life’s work with you.
Thanks to our rapidly growing customer base, we paid out a total commission in the six figures to artists. We’ve come a long way since our co-founders, Liz and Spencer Powers, bootstrapped $4,000 of their savings three years ago.
Deval Patrick, Managing Director at Bain Capital and former governor of Massachusetts, met with Boston-based artists Allen Chamberland and Scott Benner after purchasing their artworks for his office.
The key to our growth has been a resonance of our mission and business model in the corporate art market. More and more companies realize the importance of making socially conscious decisions and how these decisions affect company culture, including the art they put on their walls. It shows employees and clients that they are committed to giving back to their communities and fostering productive and positive work environments. What used to be a logistical process of decorating an office has become an opportunity to visibly showcase a company’s social values.
Today, with five licensing deals and over 70 corporate clients later, we feel confident that we can continue to grow our impact by connecting talented artists with companies that want to make a difference. We’re proud to count companies like Starbucks, Google, Microsoft, and Staples as partners in driving our mission forward.
In October 2016, we partnered with Google to open the first Art@Google exhibition featuring works by artist Scott Benner.
Our website now has a fresh new look to encourage businesses and individual customers to join our mission. Our curation and customer service teams are committed to bringing you the highest quality art and merchandise from some of the most talented artists in the country.
Thank you for being a part of this movement. We can’t wait to continue growing our impact in 2017!