Hire a Visual Arts Practitioner!
 

Cathy Farwell speaks with Crissy Wright for the Waterloo Region Manufacturing Innovation Network Blog on"Hire an Artist!"

We make art, yes, and you can buy or rent it, but our knowledge and training provides you with a wide range of skills and expertise.

Hire a visual arts practitioner to…

  • Help innovate, create new solutions for old designs and problems
  • Stretch manufacturing ideas beyond engineered solutions. Artists are problem-solvers, trained to step back from the process or problem and rethink it in an entirely different way
  • Generate new designs for furniture, lighting, plumbing fixtures, décor, ceramic tiles, fabric, children's toys, games, jigsaw puzzles, wallpaper …
  • Inspire creative thinking and increase productivity on the factory floor. Get your employees thinking in new and different ways about problems and design solutions. Manufacturers around the world have found real value having an artist on the factory floor for the short term, or for a longer period of residency.

The Kohler sink in your bathroom may be more of a work of art than you realize. The company known for kitchen and bathroom fixtures has opened its factory floor to artists for the past 40 years, allowing them to share ideas and techniques with factory workers so both can be inspired. This has led to new designs for Kohler, and for other companies.

Artists and industry have a long history of successful collaboration, from toilets to lasers and 3D printing. Artists have an imagination which can help manufacturers to continue to innovate, progress and prosper. Hire a visual arts practitioner to:

  • Help with product development and testing. Metals, paint, fiber, tools … give it to an artist working in that medium
  • Fabricate models and maquettes for product development
  • Get original art into your workplace. Innovation and creativity is essential to a healthy, competitive business model. A stimulating environment fosters that kind of thinking. Energize and modernize your workspace; make it more motivating and attractive for staff and clients.
  • Change the art! Art rental fees are just 4% of the total value of the artwork per month.
  • Find and install the art that’s right for you. Hire a knowledgeable visual arts consultant to help.

Artists excel in the area of visual imagery and telling a ‘story’. Hire a visual arts practitioner to:

  • Provide contemporary graphics for stand-out proposals and printed materials
  • Design your unique website and signage
  • Develop your presence on social media, a blog
  • Document a special company event, a project or the development of a product
  • Communicate your company’s mission or history in images. Hire a videographer to make a promotional video for your website and for presentations. Photographers are excellent visual storytellers, using your photos and company brand to develop marketing materials for your goals.

 Art$Pay www.artspay.org is the place to connect with local arts practitioners

Search in the Marketplace Directory for art and visual arts practitioners listed in over 30 Skills & Services for manufacturing, business, industry and technology.
Each visual arts practitioner is represented by one image everywhere on Art$Pay. A click on that image takes you to the practitioner’s own website for more information and to make contact.

Don’t see what you need?   

Post your job in the Art$Pay Marketplace under “How to Post a Job”
Business and fee guides are there to help.

Need help, more info, suggestions?

Contact Artspay Manager Cathy Farwell info@artspay.org 

Success stories with Art$Pay?

Please let us know. We’ll promote your business and outline your project with that practitioner.
Find Art$Pay on Make it Kitchener and Explore Waterloo Region       

Thanks …

Art$Pay was launched on November 22, 2016 with help from the Manufacturing Innovation Network (MIN), the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, Createscape Waterloo Region, the City of Kitchener and numerous other community-minded individuals.