How many times have you been in the car, driving through the city, and seen a street artist painting or performing on the sidewalk? How many times have you been curious about where they’re from, what they like to paint, or who they are?
If you’ve seen an artist you like, you probably have no idea how to find out any of these things. My idea is to create a platform that provides street artists the ability to post their work, as well as their bio and contact information, so that if someone likes their work, they can contact the artist and purchase their work from them. This could be useful for street artists trying to make it in the art world by allowing them to make passive income by selling their work. My idea is to start this platform in Miami, since that’s where I’m located, but I’d love feedback on how to make it scalable to other cities and other countries.
Great comments below. Thank you for taking the time. I know I will need to talk to both sides involved now– the artists and potential buyers to understand if there is a demand for this kind of thing.
As a follow up, any suggestions for whether potential buyers are anyone who has seen street art or if I need to be more focused with my approach? I know with fine art, buyers are very particular, so I do wonder if I need to be more stringent with my research approach here.
My instinct is that you won’t be looking at fine art buyers and instead should focus your target market. I suggest continuing with this research approach others shared–why don’t you walk or drive by popular street art areas and see what kinds of people stop to look at the art? You could introduce yourself and share your idea and ask if this is something they’d be interested in. It might be a bit awkward, but at least you’ll have a more accurate idea of the value of this, if any.
I like the opportunity here with capitalizing on the popularity of street art. One thing to consider though is whether people are actually trying to purchase street art. Part of the appeal of street art, at least to me, is that it’s on the street, public, transient in a way, and it wouldn’t come across in the same way if I were to re-plant it in my living room, so to speak. In a way, that changes the value of the art, and the environment doesn’t seem quite right. To know if there’s a market for selling this street art, I’d get more focused on maybe types of street art that may translate to a living environment, as well as whether people actually want to purchase it.
Interesting points, thank you for raising them. I didn’t think about the environment so much as much as the wow factor of getting to own something so unique and new. This gives me the idea that I also need to talk with people who might be buying this kind of art and understanding if the appeal still holds outside of a street art context.
I like how relatable this idea is because many of us have encountered street art and have been curious about it. Whether you’re in the art world, or just like the idea of supporting local artists, it could be a very useful platform. One possible downside is that I’d bet that street artists often put their work up on their personal pages. This platform would require artists to be active on the platform to make it worth the time they are investing. It would be one thing to create a platform where artists can find a way to sell their work, but it’s another thing to create a platform where artists will actively spend time on it. Though I see the merits of this idea, it could be hard to get artists to use it.
I’d recommend you try to better understand the art world, understanding who the influencers are in the art world and what the most popular forms of art are. You also need to understand what kind of work the artists are putting up and the style of the work to determine the best way to organize the platform. Once you get the perspectives of the artists you’re building this platform for, you’ll better understand how to attract them to your platform.
Great insight, thanks so much for taking the time. I think the next step for me will be chatting with street artists to better understand their points of view to see if this idea can have traction with them.