Art With a Purpose: ArtLifting

We're beyond excited to introduce our ArtLifting collaboration! 

At DEMDACO, we strive to lift the spirit in all we do. Every product we create is intentionally designed to offer hope, show love and give support. We're overjoyed to partner with this inspiring company as our missions and values greatly align.

What is ArtLifting?

ArtLifting offers artists the chance to secure their own income through the sale of original paintings, prints and products. By showcasing and selling artwork via ArtLifting, and now DEMDACO too, artists gain self-confidence which overflows into all aspects of their lives. As a social enterprise and benefit corporation, ArtLifting uses “business for good.”

The Founding of ArtLifting

Co-founder Liz Powers worked as a social worker running art groups in Boston when she discovered that a lot of the quality art being produced in these shelters and disability centers was being thrown away or left to collect dust. A common phrase she heard while working in these groups was, “I want an opportunity, not a handout.”

So she started ArtLifting!

Liz explains, “When I realized that there was no company similar, I knew that ArtLifting had to be founded. The infrastructure (art programs in shelters and disability centers) was already in place, and the artists were already creating art. The only thing missing was a marketplace for this art. ArtLifting gives these artists a platform to sell their artwork.”

“My goal is to make their invisible talents visible and by doing so, change stereotypes. Instead of defining people by their circumstance, we should define them by their talent.”

Meet Some of the Artists

Every artist earns 55% of the profits from the sale of their work. 1% from each sale goes to a fund which provides art supplies to art groups nationwide. ArtLifting uses the remaining 44% to further their mission.

Rudy Jean-Louis

Rudy has created his own world of geometric, colorful art. A Marine Corps veteran, Rudy became ill on a mission and required a kidney transplant. Faced with hours in the hospital, he spent his time creating. What started as relief from boredom soon became his purpose in life.

Grace Goad

Art is Grace’s mode of expression. Born with autism and intellectual disabilities, Grace began painting at the age of four and her work has taken off ever since. Grace hopes to show others that art is a window to the beauty and potential of people living with disabilities.

Charlie French

Charlie’s beautiful, calming paintings mirror the joy of his imagination and share with the world a piece of his happiness. Charlie expresses, “Yes, I have Down syndrome but first I want you to see me: Charlie French. Then I want you to see my ART!”