NEWS AND EVENTS

ANNUAL ARTIST CARD RELEASE

Artist Trading Cards at Downtown Galleries for 1st Friday

The First Friday in March brings the annual release of Artist Trading Cards to many galleries in Downtown Bloomington. These cards  are small, baseball card-sized, affordable original works of art all made by local artists.  The event is from 4pm to 8pm on March 6th. 

An Artist Card also known as an ACEO (Artist Cards Editions and Originals) is a small card measuring 2 1/2 " by 3 1/2 " upon which the artists create a quick piece of artwork representative of their larger body of work.  Any type of surface can be used from paper to metal,  plexiglass, plastic, thin wood and any media can be used from charcoal to oil paint to fabric to photography and more. Cards can be framed or placed in album pages and stored in a binder. Some collectors put them in magnetic sleeves to display on refrigerators, some have used them in phone cases as decoration, and, of course, they can always be framed.

Each artist will release only a limited number of cards for sale that evening and each card is signed either on the front or reverse..  Artists hope these cards will promote connoisseurship among the next generation of collectors. For some art patrons these cards are the first piece of original art they purchase and for others it is a chance to buy art from someone they admire but can't afford at a higher price.  

Most of the artist’s cards will be priced from $5 to $15 but some more elaborate or framed cards can be priced higher. Cards will remain available beyond the event.

This is an annual event and another release won’t be for another year.