Mt.A student’s small business aims to support artists
After three years in the making, Art Loop, a local online business, is launching their website. Art Loop is a platform for young artists to promote and offer their art for rent or to buy in the Sackville community. Kaili Foster, a third-year Mt.A student began this project with the goal of supporting upcoming artists in the university community.
Kaili Foster is from Oromocto, NB, and is one of the first students to ever pursue a bachelor of fine arts and aviation degree at Mt. A. As an artist herself, Foster noticed there was not enough public exposure in the Sackville artist community. In an interview with The Argosy, she said her idea for Art Loop came from seeing “so many other artists who had a lot of talent but weren’t really showing anybody.” She said, “when you walk through the halls of the art studio space, there are just so many beautiful pieces.” “You wish everybody could see.” Foster noted how these art pieces would only be noticed by consumers after art students graduate and start to build their career, and said to herself, “Why can’t I start that process early?”
Foster’s idea began in her first year at an entrepreneur workshop. She had already been interested in entrepreneurship and it was a perfect opportunity to think of new plans for business ventures. Within the next year, Foster said she “ran with it”. She pitched the idea in Mt. A’s Pitch Competition where she had to submit a video proposal, essay, and detailed budget. Her work and dedication was noticed, winning the competition. Foster received funding and further training to make her pitch a reality. She had a workshop and several meetings with mentor John Dobson, an entrepreneurship professor at Clark University and previously taught at Harvard University. Over the past summer, Foster participated in her internship with Mt. A from winning the competition, allowing her project to grow and the Instagram page to start posting submissions. She is currently working with the entrepreneurship team at Mt. A to continue bringing this idea to life.
In the future, the Art Loop hopes to partner with Mt. A and bring in guest speakers and workshop opportunities for beginner artists, such as an art-pricing workshop. Foster hopes to continue branching out in the Sackville area, including an idea for a gallery exhibition with Struts Gallery. Eventually, she would like to reach out to other art-centred programs and universities in Atlantic Canada and build sections of the website around the different regions.
For now, the Art Loop website is officially up and running! Through her project, Kaili Foster is ready to show off local talent to the community and build a space for aspiring artists to promote themselves.
If a young student artist wants to get involved with the Art Loop, they must be a current university student. Interested artists may reach out to Foster at [email protected], where they can send in their portfolio for consideration. The artist can be in any program — it is not limited to fine arts students — and the art can be of any medium, including drawings, paintings, photography, sculpture, and anything else. Foster is also beginning to expand, featuring other artistic mediums, such as singers and musicians.
Once the art is received, it will be put up on the website for people in the area to rent or buy, with a focus on renting as it makes the art less expensive and more accessible, so people can “swap out” their wall art in dentist offices and other such places, according to Foster. The art can also be featured on the Art Loop Instagram page for online exposure.
Mt.A artists and people interested in renting art in Sackville can check it out at kailifoster.wixsite.com/art-loop or the Art Loop Instagram, @art_loop.join.