ArtPop

The Art Public Outdoor Project (ArtPop) fosters a greater connection between artists and their communities, celebrates creativity in local venues, and provides artists a platform to grow their professional careers while sharing the glory of art across our whole community – some that may not have been exposed to art. In 2022, we present our 9th public exhibition in Charlotte, showcasing artists living and working in a thirteen-county area. Our Charlotte project provides over $330,000 in outdoor advertising and marketing for each of our twenty artists selected by our 7-member jury in late 2021.

Our artists have unprecedented access to a community-wide marketing campaign that has the power to transform their careers as artists. We create a pop-up art gallery in a relaxed environment as a platform for artists to interact with people who may not otherwise see their art. ArtPop stimulates economic impact for both artists and the community.

We make art accessible to all people in our communities because everyone deserves access to art.

ArtPop focuses on creating a vibrant, growing community for local artists to showcase their talent and build their businesses. Local artists lack the ability to receive large-scale exposure for their work on their own. Creative communities in all cities can experience discrimination and lack of opportunity due to poor funding and a dearth of resources to support artists.

There is a need in the local community to increase the diversity of artists and increase the opportunities for exposure to their work. There is also a need to increase art education and exposure in disenfranchised community areas that could be supported through city and corporate partnership opportunities. Artists lack the tools and resources they need to make a professional living.
The community is missing out on the exposure to the strength of art.

ArtPop showcases local artists by featuring their art in public spaces and equips them to achieve sustained success.

We do this through two programs – our Cities Program and Inspiration Projects.  

Through our Cities Program, ArtPop promotes local artists' work on available media space—billboards, mixed-use development displays, news racks, airport. Our twenty Charlotte artists, selected by a 7-member jury in late 2021, will each receive $330,000 in outdoor advertising and marketing exposure that has the power to transform their careers.  

In response to an open call, artists in the Charlotte metro area submit a billboard-ready, high-resolution image from a larger piece of original work for consideration. Once selected, billboards are designed and printed, and our advertising partners install the works on static and digital billboards, newsstands, malls, and airport displays. The exhibition runs for 12 months, and pieces rotate throughout the region.  

Our Inspiration Projects are a new area of focus for ArtPop, allowing us to connect companies and community leaders with local artists for projects. By working as an agent for these artists, we secure commissioned work for local artists. We have completed four murals with over $200,000 in paid opportunities for local artists.

ArtPop champions diversity and freedom of expression in the artist selection process and the communities where we showcase art. ArtPop graduates in all of our geographical programs consist of 400+ artists. ArtPop supports local artists and introduces art through exposure to all communities in the cities and counties in North Carolina where we are active. So much more than a beautiful addition to the urban landscape, public art unites, strengthens, and grows communities. ArtPop ensures those communities always have access to art by supporting the artists that create it, giving them huge public canvases to share. Locally, ArtPop graduates consist of 165+ artists – 86 women, 25 people of color, 15 Black - with 111 minority artists represented to date. Our alumni also represent LGBTQ artists. ArtPop aspires to create a culture of openness and acceptance of all people. The age range in each class is wide. Each year one senior high school student is included in the class. Student artists receive a scholarship to a collegiate art program, the same exposure as the elder artists for their work, and the entire ArtPop community's support.

North and South Carolina

Objectives for the 2022 Charlotte ArtPop class include: Continue to increase the diversity of artists in the program; Increase art education and exposure in disenfranchised community areas through city and corporate partnerships; Grow partnership with ArtistsU, providing artists with the tools and resources to make a professional living. 

We measure our success by the number of artists showcased and their success during and upon completing the ArtPop City Program. ArtPop has showcased the work of over 400 talented artists across our program areas – 160 of those artists in the Charlotte region. ArtPop's graduating class reports a 90% increase in online audience growth on social media, 85% expansion of art community connections, 40% increase in commissions, and a 60% increase in sales post-event. 100% of ArtPop artists recommend the experience to their peers.

ArtPop champions diversity and freedom of expression. ArtPop graduates consist of 165+ artists – 86 women, 25 people of color, 15 Black - with 111 minority artists represented to date. LGBTQ artists are represented by alumni. ArtPop creates a culture of openness and acceptance.  

The ArtPop gallery has no boundaries, admission fees, or dress code in bringing art to Charlotte metro neighborhoods. Our public art rotates around these counties, bringing exquisite art to countless motorists, errand runners, and visitors. Public art unites, strengthens, and grows communities. Communities need art, and artists need to make a living.

ArtPop works with twenty artists each year to help them either strengthen an existing business or create a small business to support their creative work. Over our nine years, we have worked with over 400 artists to help them create a sustainable business model to support their work.

ArtPop currently serves a thirteen-county area in Charlotte, North Carolina, a metro area that extends into South Carolina. The counties where we are active have different levels of support for their creative communities. ArtPop works with local vendors to create more opportunities to showcase artists' work. ArtPop also works with local arts councils and city entities to lobby for more funding support for the arts community.

Our Executive Director, Wendy Hickey, is our founder and critical to the mission and vision of ArtPop. Wendy is actively engaged and committed to expanding awareness of ArtPop in the artists' communities in the Charlotte metro area. She has a strong relationship with many local arts groups, businesses, and Charlotte Center City Partners.  Wendy worked in the advertising and billboard industry for 20 years. Through her relationships with outdoor media companies, we have been able to turn that in-kind donation into over $330,000 per artist - $6m worth of exposure for all of our artists each year.

The ArtPop gallery has no boundaries, admission fees, or dress code in bringing art to Charlotte metro neighborhoods. Our public art rotates around these counties, bringing exquisite art to countless motorists, errand runners, and visitors. Public art unites, strengthens, and grows communities. ArtPop shares its artists' work on billboards, newsstands, and other outdoor venues to ensure that all in the community can share art's beauty. We have chosen these media vehicles because everyone has access to them. There is no charge to view the art, and all are welcome.

ArtPop was created to ensure communities have never-ending access to public art and that artists have the canvases on which to create it. Our 501c3 organization has been featured in 15 cities across the country. We have provided more than 400 artists with an opportunity to showcase their work on a grand scale - on billboards, newsstands, and airports, with over 30 million dollars in ad space. ArtPop works with outdoor advertising companies to secure that space for free, giving artists a one-of-a-kind opportunity to share their work. Through our Cities Programs, we are quite literally a street gallery: We turn roads, highways, and thoroughfares into opportunities for artistic appreciation and discovery. We have been active in North Carolina since 2014 and have showcased over 165 Charlotte artists through our Cities Program. In 2020 we added a new division of ArtPop, Inspiration Projects, to create opportunities for our artists to work on paying projects for corporations. ArtPop creates city-sized street galleries sharing their talent on billboards, outdoor media, and community art projects, equipping them to achieve sustained success. We make art accessible to all people in our communities because everyone deserves access to art. In the next five years, our growth goal is to build our base in Charlotte and eventually return to city programs in Winston-Salem, NC, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Our Executive Director, Wendy Hickey, is our founder and critical to the mission and vision of ArtPop. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for meeting financial objectives and staying true to the mission of ArtPop. She is responsible for Strategic Planning, Program Development, Fundraising, Staff Leadership, Management, and Community Relations.  

Wendy is actively engaged and committed to expanding awareness of ArtPop in the artists' communities in the Charlotte metro area. She has a strong relationship with many local arts groups, businesses, and Charlotte Center City Partners.  Wendy worked in the advertising and billboard industry for 20 years. Through her relationships with outdoor media companies, we have been able to turn that in-kind donation into over $330,000 per artist - $6m worth of exposure for all of our artists each year.   

The ArtPop Board is also very engaged in the mission. Serving on fundraising and strategy committees to drive the future of ArtPop. 

Funding from the Truist Foundation would enable ArtPop to work with additional local artists' communities in Winston-Salem, NC, and Atlanta, GA. A partnership with the Foundation and MIT Solve could help us expand our reach and help impact local communities by inspiring the creation of small businesses.

ArtPop would love to partner on board development. We could also use support on public relations and increase our reach with social media. We are very eager to add some evaluation tools into our wheelhouse to understand our awareness levels in our market more accurately.

We want to continue to expand our partnerships with outdoor media companies. We would also like to increase awareness of our Inspiration Projects program within the corporate world.