The story behind CRAC
When I sold my house in Savannah, Georgia 19 months ago, I packed up all my earthly belongings, drove a moving truck to Castle Rock, and knew I was embarking on the journey of a lifetime. Among the first things I did when I arrived here was put said earthly belongings in storage, looked for an apartment, and became a member of the Greater Castle Rock Art Guild. I knew if I was going to dedicate my new life to art in this town, that I would need to support the local art community. Since then, the Guild has experienced major change and upheaval, and the gallery on Wilcox Street where I first joined will be closing its doors at the end of April.
During my time with the Guild, in which I worked on a marketing committee and exhibited my artwork in the gallery, I was a strong proponent of leveraging the internet and social media to promote the Guild’s initiatives, and most importantly to me as a professional artist, to market artwork. The beauty of technology is that we can transcend physical spaces, project art beyond gallery walls, and bring artists and their art face to face with folks who might never darken a gallery door. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have the power to smash down brick-and-mortar walls and free artists of the burden of traditional gallery rent.
I created the Castle Rock Artist Cooperative (CRAC) to connect professional artists with art consumers in our community; in fact, it’s the only organization in Castle Rock that actively promotes and markets artists who make a living by selling their artwork. The website will be the hub of CRAC, with online galleries and portfolios, artist bios and event calendars. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will connect artists with the community, potentially reaching millions of people across Town and around the world. Membership will provide artists with a platform to bring their art to the masses.
This is a new, dynamic world we’re living in. Let’s bring our art into the future, too. –Nick Lucey