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Top 10 Rise Art Highlights from 2016

Posted by Scott Phillips on 15th December 2016

With 2016 in the rear view mirror, I wanted to take a pause to thank all of the artists, customers and Rise Art experts that have helped make 2016 the best year yet in the short history of the company. As we close up the year, I wanted to take a moment to share my top 10 highlights from 2016 – and it’s been quite a whirl!

1 MAKING VIDEOS

The team kicked off the New Year with Rise Art’s first video shoots, interviewing artists from behind the scenes across the site. We visited the studios of Mat Cahill, Kristjana Williams, Tommy Clarke and Nick Malone to get an insight into their practice and a first hand look at what makes their artwork so special.

In the Studio with Illustrator Mat Cahill from Rise Art

2 CROWD FUNDING ON CROWDCUBE

As Rise Art was set for growth, the team launched a Crowd funding campaign on Crowdcube to help finance the next stage of the company’s development. The campaign was a massive success, and we were oversubscribed in the first week, going way above and beyond our target. A huge thanks goes out our customers, artists and new found friends who helped make this happen.

3 LAUNCHING THE TRADE PROGRAM

Our corporate and trade team continued to expand, with new projects in London, Dubai and Hong Kong. We officially launched the Rise Art trade program in the spring, and hosted events for our partners in conjunction with Herman Miller and D&D group, including the launch of a new artwork collection at Avenue Restaurant in central London.

Rise Art Launches our Trade Program for Interior Desginers

4 OUR GROWING COMMUNITY

The number of artists submitting to Rise Art continued to go through the roof and our community is thriving! By spring of 2016 we had over 75,000 artwork submissions to the site. Out of these, our experts selected 500 of the highest quality emerging and established artists as sellers on the platform, who we felt best fitted the Rise Art repertoire and customer needs. Sales numbers for our artists also continues to grow, and in the summer the team launched the first of our regular artist meet-ups in London and beyond.

Seller Reception in London for the Rise Art Artist Community

5 OUR FIRST ACQUISITION

The summer was busy (no rest for the wicked!) and we made our first acquisition in June, purchasing Dublin art startup Artfetch. As part of the deal, Artfetch Founder Katie Tsouros joined us as the head of brand and content marketing. The amazing Rise Art team grew further with key recruits across development, operations and marketing roles.â€¨

Katie Tsouros & Artfetch Join Rise Art in Summer 2016

6 KRISTJANA S WILLIAMS & FORTNUM AND MASON

Ever popular Rise Art artist Kristjana S Williams was selected by Fortnum and Mason to provide artwork for their Christmas campaigns. The artist's work appeared in window displays and across packaging for teas, biscuits, champagne and hampers (all the best things Fortnum and Mason is known for!).

Kristjana S Williams' Artwork on Display at Fortnum and Mason

7 LAUNCHING IN HONG KONG

In September, Rise Art held our first event in Hong Kong alongside the launch of the marketplace in Asia. Throughout the month, we hosted a pop up exhibition on Hong Kong’s Hollywood Road with press events, cocktails and dinners. Rise Art was covered by over 15 media outlets across China, including the South China Morning Post. And we extended shipping to 27 countries worldwide as part of the launch, going even more global!

Rise Art Launches in Hong Kong With Areteos

8 RISE ART & MAT CAHILL AT THE V&A

September also saw Rise Art hosting an event London’s V&A museum as part of LDF to celebrate the work of artist Mat Cahill and the art of drawing.

Mat Cahill at the V&A during the London Design Festival

9 KELVIN OKAFOR MAKING THE BIG TIME

Rise Art artist Kelvin Okafor is featured on CNN! Kevin was one of the very first artists selected on Rise Art back when we started in 2011. His intricate, hand drawn and photo realistic portraits which once listed for £300 on the site now retail for over £20k. He’s an amazing artist and we’re quite proud of this one!

Artist Kelvin Okafor at work in the studio

10 RISE ART & GINA SODEN AT ANOTHER COUNTRY

In the run up to Christmas, we hosted a collaboration with celebrated furniture brand Another Country in their Marylebone showroom, featuring the gorgeous photographic work of Gina Soden. Another collaboration to include cocktail events and dinners (we do like them!) and a great way to round off the year just before the holidays.

Krankenhaus, Gina Soden - Part of the exhibition at Another Country Dec 2016

As you can tell it’s been a busy and fun year, and apart from all the activities and events, we are thrilled at the reception we have received for our unique try at home art rentals service, as we continue to fulfil our mission of having art in your home even easier. The press have also loved it with coverage from the FT, Apartment Therapy, The Telegraph and more.

We can’t wait to continue the Rise Art story in 2017. Thanks again for helping us make 2016 a year to remember!