The Founders of Artists on Purpose:
Tarah Singh and Janet DeLong, PhD, met during a wood-fired pizza gathering at Highland Lake Cove in Flat Rock, North Carolina. They instantly recognized themselves as friends and they talked about their love of art. Turns out that each of them had hopes of founding an Artist Cooperative. Weeks later, Artists on Purpose was born. Their dream of financially supporting artists whose creations helped fund non-profit organizations was a reality. Janet's thoughts about AOP, "We wanted to make it easy for artists to support organizations of their choice. Artists on Purpose would design the fund raising campaigns, we'd pay the artists and we'd pay the non-profit. The artists get to have some of their living expenses covered, their supplies and an opportunity to have their work seen in a global way. Non-profits get an almost effortless fundraiser handled by Artists on Purpose. It's a win/win/win."
Tarah, a multidimensional artist, said it best, "Artists are Artists on purpose. I don't create by chance and I want to make art that matters. Artists are often asked to donate our work to worthy causes, causes that are close to our hearts. That seems like such a little thing to ask for, and often it really isn't. For an artist, it's time that could be spent on their own body of work, it's real energy and resources that are often needed for other items we need to survive or promote ourselves. Every artist knows how upsetting it is to have to turn down a worthy project because you can't afford to say yes. It leaves you asking the question, what is your purpose in the times in which we live."