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Writer's pictureBridgett Baer
Jul 21, 20225 min read

Art Boards the Sustainability Train.

Hello ContreLeMur Tribe!

A current trend that is very big and shows all signs of gaining momentum and being around for a while is the idea of living sustainably. Sustainability is wonderful for the planet and for creators. Sustainability also allows all kinds of art pieces to have new lives in new homes. One group that will have new life and new chances with the push towards sustainability are smaller and local artists. Many artists work takes time to find its audience and when those artists are creating a limited amount of art, it is possible they will not be around or working long enough for their art to "catch fire" through word of mouth. A tough business fact is that artists who do not have a representative to get their work out to viewers will frequently have a very small market for their work. Many of those artists just didn't get a foothold during their lives. This leaves a high number of artists who have put great art out there but struggle to generate a large "tribe" of followers. So, what happens to all that art that is created?

1. The family may disperse to extended members or hold that content

2. The art may get moved from the family by an estate sale, yard sale or other manner

3. The artist may have had an agreement to give their collection to peers, public venues or friends.

4. One of their tribe of followers may take on the mantle of championing the artist and keeping their work together, while sharing the artist story.


These facts mean that there are a lot of great pieces of reasonably pieced art floating around in varied secondary sources (www.contrelemur.com is one of them) looking for new walls to grace and people to be as fond of them as the artist who created them is. Adopting these pieces is wonderful way to keep things out of landfills, have unique items gracing your home and keep decorating costs in check, while also honoring the efforts of the artists who lovingly created them.


The two pieces below are examples of identified artists, who created great art but did so in very small numbers. These pieces are both vintage, the first being made in the 1970's in Massachusetts and the second being made in 2012 in Mississippi. They graced homes for many years before ending up in estate sales in Colorado. ContreLeMur rescued them and is now working to find their forever walls (for more information see them on our gallery page). Putting reasonably priced art like this into your home is the very definition of sustainability. As an aside, not only do you get something lovely to enjoy now, but there is always a chance that this artist may be discovered by the larger community and your work can grow in value. Don't think so? Both Jackson Pollack and Vincent van Gogh's works had very low interest when the artists were alive, but now are highly regarded and pretty pricey.


Let's compare this to an average piece of artwork that can be found produced and sold in mass, shall we? Many are machine produced images on stretched canvas. Incredibly large numbers of images are reproduced for sale. The final work is often not attributed or signed by any artist in any way. The works are sold unframed, and while they could be framed, this is an expensive option. The images are designed to be generic, prepared to fit in any space and just blend in. While there are upsides to using these to decorate a space, such as: being inexpensive and easily replicable, there are even more downsides. If you are looking for sustainability or a piece to tell your story, a mass-produced image can't meet these needs. When you move, change your furniture, or decor style, move the next phase of your life or get tired of it, people won't be lining up to recycle it into their space, they will just go to the nearest box store and buy the exact same thing. It will find its new home in the garbage or goodwill, where if no one buys it at any price it will be sent to the landfill. The final insult to this story is, again, no artist is given credit for this work. These anonymous images further reduce the opportunities for small artists to find their tribe and share their work.


Let's be absolutely honest, you can find something to stick on your wall just about anywhere. Sometimes walking through a big box store you see something and go, "too cute, it must go home with me" or maybe the mental discussion is more like "that just speaks to me, that works" and into the cart it goes. You check the tag, and its easily affordable, it is already on a stretcher; it has hanging hardware and it will take only a hot minute to put up. The decor dilemma you didn't know you had, just got solved. And you managed to score toothpaste, earbuds and socks at the same time. Excellent time management, right?


The bigger ask is if you are adding something you buy with socks, or bolts, or fast flat furniture is it really telling your story? These pieces are churned out in mass, and when they reach the end of their useful life or have stopped being interesting, they come down and are either disposed of or given away. The likelihood they will grow in value or be valued by their owners over generations, is exceedingly slim. And trust me, very there are few times will museum curators or gallery owners will respond with a "bring them in" for your collection of stretched canvas wall images. Much like a flat pack piece of furniture they just serve an immediate and short-term want or need then enter the landfill. This is the opposite of sustainability.


And while we are talking about art sustainability and art reflecting your style and tastes, what is this?

If anyone can explain this trend in terms other than "it's funny", "it's cute" or "it's so campy" please share in the comments to enlighten me, because I am really at a loss. Can this really be telling a story of you and the people you love? Can this possibly be a way to start a conversation with your guests? Whitewashed signs of any style but especially in bathrooms are absolutely NOT going to find another home after they leave yours. Along with their lack of meaningful content, they are made of bare wood with a top paint layer, how these hold up to the regular and recurring use of cleaning chemicals that are used in the average bathroom? These are the leaders in landfill specialists and really unsustainable. Do we really want the legacy of the human race on this planet to be landfills full of signs proclaiming our pride of pooping?


I don't actually tend to end art blogs on the subject of pooping, so this is an odd twist. But sometimes the world needs and looks for the unusual ending. But the final ask? Practice art sustainability, take a bit more time, find those images which speak to you, that tug on your soul. Whenever you can support those local and smaller artists by giving their works forever walls. Or dig down and give your inner artist free rein to YOUR inner creative and put that onto the walls. Trust me your will still buy a lot of stuff from those stores, just let's not make "artwork" part of that purchase. And if you are worried that you are putting those anonymous artists our of jobs when you don't support the stores, very few artists see financial gains past the sale of initial image, if even then.


Clifford says Hello to everyone and hopes you have a wonderful, art filled week.






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