Tiny Showcase: RI’s Anti-Snob Art Entrepreneurs
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
There is a new trendy gallery close to where you work and it shimmers in blank whiteness; you’re not sure if the lighting fixtures on thewalls are art or electrical outlets. The whole place makes you nervous you’re going to spill something even if there is not a beverage in sight. Many galleries, who want to sell the hottest name and prefer trend to talent, feed off this aura superiority and untouchable intimidation.
Tiny Showcase was established to fight art snobbery. In November 2004, Jon Buonaccorsi and Shea'la Finch founded Tiny Showcase with the belief that art should be accessible and affordable. Each week, the Providence-based Tiny Showcase selects a piece of art and creates a limited edition high-quality reproduction of this piece—ranging from prints on archival Hahnemühle German Printmaking Paper, posters, tee shirts, stickers, bookplates, pins and zines. GLP sat down with Shea’la Finch to talk about the site, which is as delightful and as homey as an arts Web site could possibly be.
GLP: Tell me a little bit about the inception of Tiny Showcase. Was the idea building for a while, or was it a revelation?
SF: Like the origins of most good ideas, the Tiny Showcase story begins with deeply unsatisfying desk jobs. In 2004 we were both clocking in and out of mundane offices and in effort to decrease workplace monotony, we played a game in which we would challenge each other to illustrate sentences we wrote on a slip of paper. Some of the drawings that came out of that game were pretty great and inspired the idea of a site that would release tiny, limited-
GLP: And how did that transform into Tiny Showcase?
SF: Instead, that model—the publishing of limited edition, high-quality, affordable prints—evolved into a solution for the frustrations we had with the art world at the time. We were amazed by the amount of art being created around us, and appalled by the lack of access to that art. If the gallery didn't want to show it, then no one would see it. And if it was shown, then curious or new art collectors didn't feel comfortable going to the galleries. There was and is a social stigma in place that prevents many people from feeling comfortable in traditional art environments. There are some galleries in this world that strive and succeed in changing that. They undermine and reinvent. But there isn't one in every town.
GLP: So how does Tiny Showcase combat this?
SF: The internet created a new dimension for both artists and art enthusiasts. This is where Tiny Showcase comes in. We provide publicity and financial support to artists (and the charity of their choice). We offer affordable high-quality art for even the most remote or reluctant art enthusiasts. We maintain a forum for artists and collectors to connect, to stay up to date on events, exhibitions, etcetera. In this way we hope to encourage people to see art as an accessible everyday experience.
GLP: And this was a small revolution when you began?
SF: What's important to note is that although now we might think of limited edition, affordable prints as commonplace to an artist's offering, this did not exist when we founded Tiny Showcase.
GLP: Where do most of the artists come from?
SF: Across the nation and internationally, but there are pockets of geographic density, like in Providence, Bay Area, Minneapolis, the UK.
GLP: Tell me a little bit about the printing process?
SF: We print a majority of the editions at our studio here in Providence, and any editions that we don't print in-house go through local print shops like DWRI Letterpress and Head Light Hotel.
GLP: What was the motivation to donate some proceeds to a charity?
SF: When the site began, artists had the option to get paid or donate their payment to charity. This was inspired by the understanding that most artists are sympathetic people, drawing their reference material and inspiration from causes that inspire them (animals, environment, social justice) but rarely earn a level of income that allows them to contribute to organizations that matter most to them. Not surprisingly, few artists could afford to choose the donate option in the first few months, but by our sixth month in operation sales had increased to a point that we could up the price of the print to $20 and build in the charitable donation to the cost of the print.
GLP: What has been your favorite piece to print? Or it is too difficult to choose?
SF: Too difficult! But, it tends to be whatever print is next.
To see what's in available in the gallery, go to www.tinyshowcase.com. You can also sign up for a weekly email promoting new pieces when they're featured.
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