Artadia founder Christopher Vroom has a new idea to mix art and business: get museums and nonprofits to clear the art cluttering their back rooms and gift shops and put it online, where it can be traded for much-needed cash! Artspace Market, the new venture’s website already features work by Mary Heilman, Chuck Close, Jonas Mekas, and many other household names, mostly multiples made to accompany old exhibitions; proceeds from sales are split between the institutions and Artspace. The website follows on from Vroom’s Artspace Editions, which commissions prints from artists, (even some, like Aaron Parazette, in Texas!) and includes works made through that program.
Business Insider tells the same story with a different emphasis: Catherine Levene, a high powered web-marketing exec sold her business, DailyCandy.com (“Your Free Daily Email on Food, Fashion, and Fun!”), to COMCAST for $125 million, then discovered a “passion for art” while on celebratory vacation, and began Artspace with Vroom’s help and $1.2 million.
