Recently, Adorama has partnered up with Art is Helping, a new organization representing current artists and photographers who sell their work to raise money for charitable causes. Available for purchase online, half of the proceeds of each piece sold will be donated to a charity of the buyer’s choice. The brainchild of photographer Salem Krieger, Art is Helping was founded a mere few months ago. However, it has already added twenty-five artists to its roster with over twenty charities to choose from. And within what appears to be a very short timeline, Art is Helping is positioned to grow exponentially.
South Dakota. Photograph by Salem Krieger
In the upcoming months, four artists will be awarded a $500 gift card from Adorama. This is a special kind of recognition hoping to increase the exposure an organization like Art is Helping deserves. So stay tuned to the Adorama Learning Center as we will be profiling these lucky winners in the following months. As for the organization itself, it all began with a photographer who came up with an idea: How could the purchase of art benefit both the artist and make a difference?
In Salem Krieger’s case, it all started with his response to a horrible tragedy that made global news. “The seeds for this started with last year’s earthquake in Nepal,” says Krieger. “I started selling some of my more popular pieces on social networks like Facebook and donated a percentage – after printing costs – to the relief effort.” Prior to this, Salem had donated his work for the purpose of being auctioned off. Yet, those proceeds would go straight to the charity, leaving Krieger to question whether there was a way for both the artist and the charity to benefit. “Because let’s face it,” explains Krieger, “artists should get paid. Regardless of the cause.”
Dogs With Owner — West Coast Florida. Photograph by Salem Krieger
Krieger began his career not with a camera but with a pen. “I started many years ago as an illustrator. I went to the Chicago Academy of Fine Art for a year and thought “How cool! Walt Disney went there also!’” He continues, “At that time, it seemed like most of my friends were photographers. One of them is on the Art is Helping site: Jack Perno. He was my professor at the school. We became friends and my love for photography had started really happening.”
Sometime later Salem decided to make the leap into being a full on professional photographer. “Years forward I really liked the idea of shooting and traveling and being more engaged because illustration work was a bit solitary. So I called up American Airlines and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to Nicaragua. I’m volunteering for a group of doctors who are optometrists to take some photos. Can I do a story for you?’ And they said, ‘Sure.’ So that was my very first job.” Since then Krieger has utilized his camera skills for companies like Forbes, The Financial Times, Corning Glass Corporation, Nike, and Whole Foods.
Newsstand NY. Photograph by Salem Krieger
It was in October of 2015 when Krieger decided to pull his resources together and formalize the concept that would become Art is Helping. And, yes, that was only five months ago. So you can imagine this author’s response when Krieger began to describe the timeline of his project’s development.
Krieger: “Two and a half months before Christmas time—“
Adorama: “Wait. You meanthispast Christmas?!”
Please check out the Art is Helping website. Go ahead, we’ll still be here when you come back. What you’ll see is an expertly designed online gallery of art and photography. It does not feel “rushed.” Nor does it sacrifice the ease of navigation. If you see a piece that you like, click the purchase button underneath to be presented with three options and price points to match depending on the size of the available print. Next to each option there is a diverse list of charitable organizations carefully vetted then selected by Krieger. A list that includes City Harvest, Food Bank, God’s Love We Deliver, The New York Public Library, and the Cartwheel Initiative, among others. It doesnotlook like a website that took only five months to put together.
“I got (Art is Helping) launched about 10 weeks before Christmas. So I was working incredibly hard for about ten weeks.” But first Krieger presented his idea to Alan Dorow, the managing partner of sitewelder.com. Described by its website as a “powerful software tool to provide an easy-to-use online interface for photographers, artists and other creative professionals,” SiteWelder was a byproduct of Tango Interactive whose many clients included Photo District News and Kodak. Dorow was excited by the concept and agreed to help out by providing the online architecture.
Photograph by Salem Krieger
Krieger then approached Susan Brandt of Rational Animal (rational-animal.org) to act as an umbrella organization while utilizing their resource as a 501c3. This would allow purchases to be partially tax deductible (since only half of the proceeds are donated while the other half goes to the artist). All in all, it happened fairly quickly and without any discernable resistance. Says Krieger, “When I spoke to people, the general response I got was ‘Salem this is a great idea!’” Yet, Krieger was worried about the incoming volume that could result, so he went to post-production main stay Duggal to see if they could handle the printing. The reaction was certainly positive: they offered to keep the costs down. So now not only does Duggal handle the printing workflow, they handle the packaging and shipping as well.
Another important component was brought on by means of introduction from the Berlin-based, copyright violation watchdog Pixsy. They proposed to provide a policing element thus protecting the use of each artist’s work online. The website design, payment system, philanthropic list, the not-for-profit umbrella, even shipping,printing and rights protection were now in place. All that remained was contacting the artists whose work Art is Helping hoped to represent. Krieger started with his friends. He then called everyone he knew. This resulted in signing on twenty-four artists (excluding Krieger himself). Eventually, he would like to sign on more talent, stage live exhibits, and foster relationships with corporate buyers.
Most importantly, Krieger wants to expand his list of charities. Referring to art’s potential as an “activist tool” he says, “I love the idea when someone buys a piece of art there is an actual physical, tangible result because of that.” Krieger then brings up his old college professor and friend, Jack Perno. “We sold one of his pieces for a thousand dollars. He said ‘wow, you know how cool it is knowing that I just fed a bunch of people who normally might not have been fed?’ That’s one of the unspoken perks knowing that connection.”
Left: From Krieger’s Peopless Portrait Series. Photograph by Salem Krieger. Right: Salem Krieger, photographer and founder of Art is Helping.
