About supportyourlocalartist.ch

During the first lockdown, our cultural venue Haus zur Ameise in St. Gallen faced an uncertain future. But instead of remaining idle, we used the time to act quickly and unbureaucratically. Within just one week, we set up a relief project specifically aimed at artists in the fields of illustration and graphics. During this phase, it was difficult for many artists to sell their works because they did not have their own online shop. However, many had products like postcards, prints, T-shirts, stickers, temporary tattoos, and printed socks – all things that were in demand at the time. This led to the creation of the art platform supportyourlocalartist.ch. In the first month, we were able to facilitate more than 500 orders and pay out over 25,000 CHF directly to the artists – a valuable support in difficult times. What started as an emergency solution back then has developed into a successful art platform over the years. Today, almost five years later, supportyourlocalartist.ch is much more than an online shop: We organize art markets, operate our own gallery space and a shop in Zurich (currently under renovation), offer workshops, have established numerous collaborations with artists and brands, run two art vending machines in Zurich and St. Gallen, and have founded an art mediation agency called somewhere LAB.Read their story