Marion photographer launches nationwide shopping event for local artists

MARION, Iowa (KCRG) -Chris Sherman is a world-traveling photographer and entrepreneur. He’s spent the last year dedicated to organizing Artists Sunday, a new nationwide shopping event. “Before Artists Sunday it was individual artists out there trying to promote their work, trying to combat against the big box store which are all pushing Black Friday or Cyber Monday. So this gives all artists a rallying point of their own, where they can champion and rally their own work,” says Sherman.

Sherman says he got the idea to use the Sunday after Thanksgiving to promote local artists after seeing a boost in his own sales this time last year. Now, there are more than 3,500 artists along with 500 communities participating across all 50 states.

Sherman says artists need the support now more than ever now because of the pandemic “So artists have not been able to connect with consumers at craft fairs, art fairs, art walks throughout the year, right? So that’s led to a loss of 100 million consumers not engaging with artists,” says Sherman.

The event’s interactive website lets shoppers find nearby artists with dozens of specialties...from painting, to ceramics, to clothing.

Sherman says he wanted to provide an easy-to-use platform to help customers find new artists, and vice versa. He hopes his vision of highlighting local artists continues to click with people in the future, saying “If we can help artists sell more work, or raise recognition with consumers, we’ve done our job.”

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