![]() The prevalence of ArtPop has led to the other major success – and that’s the shared success all the artists have had. The invaluable publicity will remain on view through March 4. In one of her most audacious triumphs, Hickey secured space on a digital billboard in Times Square for the current class of ArtPop artists. 31, even people in the Big Apple are seeing ArtPop. “Everywhere you go outside your home, you’re likely to see ArtPop,” she said. Hickey said ArtPop has had two equally big successes in its first 10 years. ArtPop received a $13,500 ASC Cultural Vision Grant this year to fund the printing costs for vinyl billboards and railway station ads placed throughout Mecklenburg County. And ASC’s involvement continues to this day. From 2014-17, ASC managed the open call for #ArtPopCLT and paid for the vinyl material the 20 billboards were printed on. ArtPop artists work in a wide variety of media – photography, fiber arts, paint, clay.ĪSC has been involved since the beginning. And, after a blind jurying process, a new class of 20 ArtPop artists is announced every December.Īpplicants must be at least 18, have an active artist website and live in the greater Charlotte area. Each autumn since, she’s put the call out to area artists to apply. ![]() ![]() “We’ve written some as big as $75,000.”Ī decade ago, Hickey had the idea to beautify empty billboard space and help artists grow their careers at the same time. “We’re so fortunate to be able to write checks to artists,” she said. In addition, digital billboards across the city broadcast his face to passersby.ĪrtPop―nearing its 10 th anniversary―is the brainchild of Wendy Hickey, a former Adams Outdoor Advertising sales executive who has become a fairy godmother to artists. When that one came down, another went up near the Westinghouse exit on I-77. Harris―who has a studio at VAPA Center―is primarily a portrait painter and it was a self-portrait featured in those ArtPop billboards. I was reduced to tears almost immediately the first time I saw it.” But the value of having my face – at an insanely large scale – all over town was huge. “I’d been painting for many years and had a small, but solid, base of collectors. “The exposure from ArtPop was insane,” said Harris, who’s now an ArtPop board member. He was part of the nonprofit’s 2022 class. He attributes his ability to leave the 9 to 5 behind to ArtPop Street Gallery. Kevin Harris recently fulfilled a long-time dream: He retired from his corporate job to become a full-time artist.
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