Underwriting support from:
"Jimi Hendrix," original drawing by Tom Salazar /courtesy of Heartside Gallery and Studio
"Taste Test," mixed-media collage by Katalina Corona /courtesy of Heartside Gallery and Studio
Purchasing unique and intuitive art, from Heartside’s self-taught artists, is now available on Etsy!
Heartside Gallery and Studio, located on the edge of downtown Grand Rapids, has been around for 20 years. It offers the Heartside community and its neighbors a supportive and safe environment to create and sell their artworks. It also provides art supplies for artists to use—such as paint, paper, wood, clay, fabric and frames.
Heartside artists are self-taught and come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Some have experienced the disadvantages and hardships of homelessness. Others suffer from various emotional, physical or mental disabilities. Most artists simply wish to share their talents and work with their neighbors.
Their artwork is available at Heartside Gallery and Studio. However, the studio only opens 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for the creation and purchase of artwork. Etsy is a chance for buyers to have access to the artworks during closed hours.
“Etsy is the etch-n-sketch of the internet,” says Walter Pinder, a Heartside artist. “It gets people a chance to get [their] stuff up and sell.”
Etsy will also display the artists’ works to an international audience. Katalina Corona, an artist, is excited about the Etsy shop.
“It’s a good venue to get us [the artists] known…to get Heartside known,” says Corona. She says each artists’ work is unique, and everybody has different mediums they prefer to use.
The talents displayed at the studio shows that art often comes naturally and intuitively. Many of the artists enjoy making art, and are not bound by contracts at Heartside, therefore can also sell their work wherever they want. The gallery retains only 20 percent of an artist’s sale, which helps to buy much-needed art supplies for the myriad of programming that goes on in the studio.
Heartside Artists have worked diligently for years to have work featured on walls and in galleries, and now they are online. New items will be added weekly on Etsy so the shop stays fresh, and for people to see the amazing artwork they’ve been missing out on.
Check out the artists' drawings, paintings, jewelry, ceramics, fiber arts and woodwork on the Etsy shop here.
By: Mai Nou Yang, Heartside Gallery and Studio Spring Intern
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