Street artists have a new — and financially friendly — outlet to turn to when the Krog tunnel walls are full: Streetela.
Founded by photographer Nathan Bolster, Streetela is a platform to introduce independent, urban works of art to appreciative art lovers.
Bolster said he realized there was a need for urban artists and designers to have a platform to display their artwork and garner new support, so he established Streetela. Bolster offers more than that, though. Streetela is a “co-operative brand” that gives artists the chance to promote themselves as a brand.
“The concept of a co-operative brand is the [idea] that the artists all design the pieces that are being sold [and that] they are getting a direct percentage of those sales; roughly about half of the proceeds,” Bolster said.
With creative fields ranging from painting to wheat pasting, graphic design to photography, and, according to artist The $tatus Faction’s bio, a “variety in method and media with no mold,” Streetela’s definition of street art is limitless. Whether the work is displayed in a gallery or on a wall facing a busy street, the main objective for Streetela is to promote their artists’ imaginations.
Streetela’s website features each artist’s bio and samples of their work. Each day blog posts are added; some posts include short documentaries on the artists. Even better: Supporters can purchase apparel designed exclusively for the Streetela brand.
“The greatest thing about Streetela is the excitement and energy [the group is] bringing to this project. They’ve [got] great videos for all the artists involved,[they] keep their blog full of interesting things going on in the world and have love for the artists they’re representing and want us to be happy and have fun with this project,” said Edgar English of the art duo Paper Twins.
By serendipity or strategic planning, Bolster’s Streetela project launched in early August of 2010, around the same time as the Living Walls Conference, a three-day exhibition of some of the world’s most dynamic street artists. Bolster approached one of the Living Walls co-founders, Mónica Campana, about the Streetela brand obtaining one of the many walls commissioned for the conference artists to display their works. In tandem, while promoting the conference, Bolster used his website to create profiles for 10 of the artists and sell Living Walls apparel, featuring work from the artists.
On April 9, Streetela will hold an official launch gallery exhibition, which will include an exhibit of collections from 15 street artists and a fashion show highlighting artist-emblazoned apparel. Curated by Campana, this launch will serve as Streetela’s more formal introduction to the urban street art world.
“Not all of [the artists] work in a gallery, not all of them work in the streets, but collectively, they represent the local, independent art movement that’s going on,” Bolster said. “With this show, we wanted to stay really local. There are a lot of people doing a lot of great work all around this country and all around the world, but we really wanted to feature the scene in Atlanta that’s coming up real quickly.”
Promoting the artists is Bolster’s main goal for Streetela.
“The artists are stronger together than apart. They’re going to have a wider audience; more people will get to see them,” he said.
Considering the freedom Streetela allows artists, guests might be surprised by how varied the works at the exhibit are.
“The street has become another medium [for creative expression]. Street art oftentimes gets lumped in with graffiti, but it’s becoming something much greater than that,” Bolster said.
