- LittleCollector.com
- Timothy Karpinski’s “Family Tree,” available at LittleCollector.com
Recently, a website called Little Collector launched, offering “contemporary art for kids.” The central engine of the site is a storefront selling limited-edition prints by household names like Shepard Fairey, as well as a few local favorites, like Seth Neefus and Timothy Karpinski (both of the Together Gallery family). Prints are sold in three sizes, framed or unframed, ranging from $40-$350. Included in the Little Collector site is a learning section that features a glossary of art terms, a time-line of modern art movements, and a handful of artist bios (Picasso, Warhol, Hirst, etc.). By no means are these exhaustive resources, but they’re enough to catalyze a more comprehensive Wikipedia session.
While I feel that exposure to art (and creativity in general) at an early age is important, I’m generally wary of anything commercial that’s targeted at kids. After all, children don’t really need limited-edition prints— if they like an image they can probably find it online and print it out for their bedroom wall, cultural/educational value unscathed.
That said, I don’t want to be too quick to chalk this up as another attempt to guilt parents into needlessly spending money on their kids: In a political climate where National Endowment for the Arts and other important sources of arts funding (the kind that support art classes for school kids) are facing budget cuts, it might be time for parents to start thinking about taking matters into their own hands. I hate to say “prepare for the worst,” but, well, ya know…
Moreover, in preparing for the worst, I believe we need to look to our own experiences to discover the best ways to address the potential art-education deficit. How were you first exposed to art? What alternative models of education could replicate those formative experiences? Do you think resources like Little Collector are enough? Or would a weekly family craft night be a better, low-budget solution?
Thank you for your commentary. At Little Collector we strive to provide a platform for families and children to engage with the arts in a fun, educational and inspiring way (we love arts and crafts!) and a percentage of our proceeds are donated to a children’s charity.
In no way do we intend to “guilt parents into spending money on their kids” since our prices are extremely reasonable, yet at the same time we are committed to supporting working artists (including 7 from Portland) by paying them fairly and respecting their copyright over the work they produce through our authenticity cards, instead of simply printing work off the internet. All of our work is actually printed in Portland with 100% archival inkjet pigments on cotton rag paper to museum quality standards. Not bad for art starting at $40!
Little Collector’s goal is to make contemporary art accessible to children and families. We are committed to inspiring the next generation of art lovers through the presentation of accessible contemporary art. We believe that viewing art is an essential part of childhood—a fundamental creative experience. And we know that good things happen when art becomes a part of any home.