Curated by Imani Dominique and located in Square One Shopping Centre, “The Gift Shop” is an art based-pop-up shop that brings together four talented and multi-faceted Black artists: Laneigh Ramirez, Percy Eriamiator, Shaza Tarig Elnour, and Isabelle Loobie (Ella's Precision). This exhibit provided emerging and mid-career Black artists with an opportunity to sell their artwork and incubate their businesses.
The four selected artists participated in business development workshops: Art Of The Sale (A Guide to Art Dealing) (Facilitated by Kristopher Sakamoto Marshall from LUMAS Gallery Toronto), Intellectual Property and Artist Legal Rights (Facilitated by Daniel Pink from Artists’ Legal Advice Services), Sustainable Content Creation (Facilitated by Gerda Boateng), and Accounting 101 (Facilitated by Kelly Ross from Ross Professional Corporation). These workshops gave the artists multi-disciplinary business skills in preparation for the Square One pop-up shop.
The Square One pop-up event was held within the “Black Owned Toronto” storefront and was an opportunity for the artists to sell their work utilizing the skill sets developed throughout the program.
Over 150 people visited the pop-up and the artists collectively made over $2,200 in sales. 100% of the artwork sales went back to the artists.
“The Gift Shop” was a space for Black artists to develop their business skills, build community, and celebrate their craft.
Please contact the artists to purchase artwork.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Gift Shop aims to propel Black artists toward economic self-sufficiency through their craft.
Workshop #1: Intellectual Property and Artist Legal Rights
Facilitated by Daniel Pink from Artists’ Legal Advice Services
This workshop explored the ways in which the artists can protect their legal rights and work from a place of informed self-advocacy. Daniel walked the artists through various legal terms and gave them checklists for a bill of sale agreement, exhibition agreements, and private commission contracts.
Daniel Pink is an experienced lawyer specializing in the areas of copyright, technology and communications law for Rogers Communications Inc. Daniel provides strategic legal advice to both the media and cable lines of business, and has extensive experience with Canadian telecommunication regulatory matters and copyright board proceedings. When not at work, he is an active volunteer on the boards of a number of local arts organizations, including Artists’ Legal Advice Services. He originally hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia and received his law degree from Dalhousie University.
Artists' Legal Advice Services (ALAS)
For 35 years, Artists' Legal Advice Services (ALAS) has worked to empower Ontario's creative community by providing access to summary legal advice, information, and education. ALAS is operated by volunteer entertainment and intellectual property lawyers, fellow creators, and law students who generously donate their time to help provide advice to those who may not be able to access more expensive alternatives. ALAS assists creators in three main ways: our educational sessions, our bi-weekly legal clinic, and our legal database.
Meet Ella's Precision | Workshop #1 Recap
Video Created by Noha Collective
Workshop #2: Accounting 101
Facilitated by Kelly Ross from Ross Professional Corporation
This workshop taught the artists how to structure their accounting practices. Kelly taught the artists how to file their taxes as business owners, how to write off business expenses, how to structure their payroll, and numerous other best practices.
Kelly Ross is the Managing Director and CEO of Ross Professional Corporation. She is a member of CPA Canada leading with strength, knowledge and passion, having over 20 years of experience in accounting and taxation. Through her career she worked in a multi-national CPA firm, then moved on to be a subject matter expert for development of an accounting program at a college. Kelly’s interest and passion for accounting came from her mother whose career was in the accounting realm. Kelly has a love for the arts and entertainment industry, which stemmed from having a father who had talent and love for music. Kelly herself played the piano, trumpet and was a dancer through her early years. Now in her downtime, Kelly can be found around the hockey rinks supporting her daughter’s hockey team and following her nephews in their live band performances. She is truly a people person and has a special skill making everyone she meets feel special.
Ross Professional Corporation
Ross Professional Corporation is an accounting firm providing tax services specializing in Arts & Entertainment industry.
Meet Shaza Tariq Elnour | Workshop #2 Recap
Video Created by Noha Collective
Workshop #3: Sustainable Content Creation
Facilitated by Gerda Boateng
This workshop taught the artists how to best strategically utilize their social media as a marketing tool. The artists learned about the importance of knowing your target audience, strengthening their brand identity, visual cohesiveness, and how to best capitalize on the strengths and audiences of each social media platform.
Gerda Boateng
Growing up as a young dark skinned girl from Ghana, Gerda was often bullied because of the complexion of her skin and other physical attributes that were not society's depiction of beauty. These experiences have motivated her to create art that is meant to focus on the beauty in one’s so-called “flaws”. She does through many different mediums. Gerda graduated from OCAD University with a Bachelors in design. Determined to be a an entrepreneur, Gerda amalgamated her design degree and her illustrative skills to start her own art brand, It became her mission to move the conversation of representation for women of colour, minorities, disabled, and indiginous women forward by designing creative concepts, through illustrations and practical art showing that the idea of beauty is way more than skin deep. Gerda hopes to motivate people to look at themselves as art, and inspire them to truly love themselves from the inside out!
She hopes to give back in a meaningful way by uplifting those who have been deemed as “flawed” and contributing to a more inclusive art space.
Meet Percy Eriamiator | Workshop #3 Recap
Video Created by Noha Collective
Workshop #4: Art of The Sale (A Guide to Art Dealing)
Facilitated by Kristopher Sakamoto Marshall from LUMAS Gallery Toronto
This workshop taught the artists that connection is key in selling artwork. Kristopher helped the artists identify their target collectors, gave them a breakdown of how to close a sale through relationship building, and provided them with numerous insights into how they can become excellent at art dealing.
Kristofer Sakamoto-Marshall (he/him) is a mixed-race Gallery Director, born and raised in the GTHA. Along with promoting the arts as a whole, he is focused on increasing public awareness of the many talented, diverse artists in the region. Throughout his career, Kristofer has been privileged to develop meaningful relationships based on respect and trust with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Using this same approach, he believes in creating a sense of community and collective voice to push the industry forward for underserved and marginalized groups.
LUMAS GALLERY TORONTO
With the ethos that "art is for everyone," LUMAS aims to increase the accessibility and affordability of high-quality fine art. As the largest producer of photographic art globally, our portfolio includes more than 3,000 pieces by roughly 250 established artists, promising newcomers, as well as historical and contemporary pieces from select archives. The exclusive, original photographs are available in hand-signed, limited edition print runs, usually between 75 and 150. This allows us to offer the artwork at more reasonable prices than typical.
At LUMAS, we hope to share our passion for first-class art with lasting value, the pleasure we take from the incomparable aura of an original work of art, and the joy of collecting itself.
Meet Laneigh Ramirez | Workshop #4 Recap
Video Created by Noha Collective
Putting What You've Learned Into Action
THE GIFT SHOP
Square One Shopping Centre
March 25th, 2023
The Square One pop-up event was held within the “Black Owned Toronto” storefront and was an opportunity for the artists to sell their work utilizing the skill sets developed throughout the program.
Over 150 people visited the pop-up and the artists collectively made over $2,200 in sales. 100% of the artwork sales went back to the artists.
PRESS
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer, Curator, Marketing Director, Artist Manager, Communications Director, and Sponsorship/ Funding Director
Imani Dominique Busby
Media Director
Malaika Lorde | Noha Collective
Art Director
Justin Campbell | Trak Fve
Set Design Assistant
Helena Povey
Production Assistants
Katherine Nerima, Ainslie Senfuka
Documentary Team
Anushay Sheikh, Pablo Rincon
Accountant
Clayonté Gilroy
Pop-Up Volunteers
Kiya Busby, Crystal Dainty, Michelle Kofia, Francis Okezie, Jesse Abutu, Julia-Rose Deletsu, Onyinye Okorafor, Sarah Itamah
PROGRAM SPONSORS
Poster and Graphic designed by Matt Worthington | Pretty Cool Strangers
🤎
