ArtSpecifier.com announces the launch of a member-only Internet database for artists that will market their work directly to designers, architects and gallery owners worldwide. Developed by Joyce Creiger, a pioneer in the art consulting and gallery business for over 38 years, the site includes 2,000 images and has accepted 300 artists, designers, architects, and art consultants as registered members. With her years of experience in bringing art to designers, Creiger realized that designers and architects need 24/7 availability and more direct and quicker access to artists of all types for their projects.
“In an economy looking for transparency and affordability, ArtSpecifier.com responds to a need that designers and architects having been forever expressing: one stop shopping for high quality art,” says Creiger. “This site is the place to find art, contact artists directly for smaller jobs, or point art consultants to pieces appropriate for larger projects.”
Creiger’s art consulting business targets clients of all types, including individuals, corporations and the hospitality industry, and created this database of artists as a response to the needs of the design/architecture industry and gallery owners. The new website does not sell artwork; rather, users contact member artists directly through the site to make a purchase.
Interior designers of hotels, hospitals, corporate offices and private residences will now be able to search ArtSpecifier.com’s member artists, who range from painters, sculptors and printmakers to ceramic, metal, fiber and glass artists. ArtSpecifier.com was created for designers and architects taking into consideration their unique needs to find quality art work, custom commission specific pieces, order in quantity, specify large scale works of art and provide artworks from specific locations. Often designers are asked to exhibit or purchase the work of local artists – now made easier through ArtSpecifier.com’s location search capabilities.
Creiger uses her experience with designers from all over the world to approve every artist on the site. Creiger invites fellow art consultants, galleries looking for new artists, architects searching for special architectural elements and finishes to use the free database. “This site is not a retail site for the public; it is for professionals to specify art for their projects only,” she says.
How it works: artists pay an annual membership fee of $100 to upload unlimited images, provide background information and CV, display recommendations, and much more. Designers have free access, and can search by color, style, medium, price, size or just about any keyword.
Once designers visit the site, they are able to search and refine to specific artists, at which point the site asks for the designers’ contact information. “At that point, we ask the designers or other users for their contact information to confirm the site is being used by the trade only,” explains Creiger. “Having this information will also help us determine the effectiveness of the site, and tell artists how many people have viewed their site.”
This concept is not new for Creiger, who launched a company called Omnivex in the early 1980s that enabled designers and galleries to locate specific pieces of art work from artists and galleries worldwide using analog laser video disc technology. “Now, 25 years later, with the power of the digital world and the Internet, I can finally realize my dream of providing wider access for artists,” says Creiger. “My plan is to make sure that the site becomes the ‘go to’ website for experienced artists producing high quality work for projects worldwide.”
