Print by Jonathan Hull
Broke art collectors don’t exist, and broke artists can only exist for so long. Enter: Brooklyn Community Supported Art + Design (CSA+D). Putting a twist on the idea of Community Supported Agriculture, where subscribers get a weekly supply of fruits and veggies from a farm or community garden, CSA+D is a program where shareholders purchase stocks in local artists in exchange for pieces of art and design.
This fall will be the second season that Brooklyn CSA+D connects local art collectors with local artists. Here’s how it works: for either $250 or $500, shareholders purchase either a half or full share (i.e. three or six pieces of art). The pieces range from prints and textiles to sculpture and ceramics to music and literature.
Print by Cary Hulbert
After the artists are chosen by a juried panel of experts, the money from purchased shares goes to fund the artists who have been commissioned for the program. A short list of this year’s artists includes Rachel Burgess, Jenn Dierdorf, Jane Fine, Florence Gidez, Cary Hulbert, Jonathan Hull, Jason Kachadourian, Hannah Mode, Ryan Sarah Murphy, Satoshi Okada, Bethany Robertson, and Jillian Rose.
Dianne Debicella, co-founder of Brooklyn CSA+D, describes it as “a fun way for people interested in collecting art at a reasonable price point to connect with artists who want their work to find a home out there in the real world.”
While the program offered 100 shares last season, this season they’ve limited shares to just 50, and we’re told last year’s sold out fast. Aspiring art collectors can purchase shares on CSA+D’s website. Here’s a video about how the whole thing works: