Art News
Dallas company will deliver tiny desk art to your office every month
A Dallas startup is bringing artwork by emerging artists to your desk. Monesk is a monthly subscription service featuring tiny desk art, with two goals: to make art more accessible as a tool for mindfulness and to support artists.
The subscription service sends out small, tabletop-sized prints, almost like arty postcards, but with the option to purchase a full-size version.
A release says that the founders, a quartet of media and art professionals, discovered the need for reflection and distraction from the solitude created by social distancing. It's a coronavirus thing.
"Many people were unceremoniously launched into at-home work without the opportunity to create a mindful space for their work efforts," says co-founder Mark Bauer in a statement. (This is the same Mark Bauer who ran for office in November 2020 to represent Texas' 24th Congressional District.) "Our goal at Monesk is to provide the resources to make offices mentally comfortable by sharing art as an invitation to pause and reflect."
Monesk also has a commitment to support emerging and independent artists, both by offering exposure and via compensation. Yay, the artists get paid.
Each monthly delivery features a 4x6 print, the artist’s bio, a description of the art, and a reflection— a series of questions to serve as thought starters and guide the user’s experience.
Artists receive upfront royalties during their featured month and earn a 70 percent commission split on larger-format sales.
Artists featured so far include Marisol Del Sol, a contemporary expressionist painter based in Houston who was the featured artist for October; and for November, Lozen Fükem, an artist who happens to be one of the four co-owners of Monesk.
Subscribe to Monesk at monesk.com. Plans range from $8.54 to $9.54 a month, depending on the subscription duration. You can also buy a cute little wood block "easel" with a slit opening to display your tiny art.
