Innes' Underpaintings - artists Paying it Forward

We enjoy Matthew Innes' website Underpaintings, and recommend it highly. Here's a portion of his latest missive.

This is the idea of Matthew Burrows, anyway, a British artist who recently launched the Artist Support Pledge on Instagram to encourage fellow artists to support each other during the coronavirus outbreak.  His idea is simple:  artists who join the Pledge agree to post artworks available for purchase at prices of £200 ($230 USD) or less, and when their total sales exceed £1000 ($1,155 USD), that artist is to purchase the work of another emerging artist for £200.  As of March 19th, there was already 1,000 posts on Burrow’s Instagram account, and if those posts translate to 1,000 pledges, that means there was £1,000,000 already invested in helping members in the Artist Support community.  The initiative has already attracted a lot of attention, and artists who have already enjoyed success outside this event have sought ways to help, including Turner Prize winner Keith Tyson who has donated £5,000 to be distributed to 25 artists over 5 weeks in order to help them reach their pledge goals.  As Burrows says, “Generosity creates generosity,” and he hopes that the camaraderie among artists will lead them to help one another through this uncertain time.