Cream Town Supports Artists Impacted by COVID-19
By Ruby Staley
Image Amelia Dowd
In the wake of COVID-19’s social restrictions and devastating economic impacts, many fear the creative industry going completely under. As revenue slows down and in some cases, ceases, artists are scrambling to make ends meet.
This is where e-commerce site, Cream Town, comes in. The website makes it easy to support local artists, stocking close to 200 artists work, all of whom have been impacted by the coronavirus.
For so many of the represented artists, the support of Cream Town has been overwhelming. Photographer, Anna Snowsill, said that “the groundswell of support for local artists from the wider community through Cream Town has been heartwarming. It's been great feeling connected to a community of artists during a time where our normal networking avenues aren't possible."
With each and every print sitting at a nice $100 (the Artist gets $48, Hound & Bone gets $32 and Cream Town gets $20), now’s the time to grab a piece by some wonderful local artists and photographers and play a part in affording their creative future.
And if for some strange reason, nothing tickles your fancy, you can always donate some money which will be evenly distributed between all involved artists.
We chatted to Bell, the creator of Cream Town, to learn more about the initiative.
As creatives you would understandably be feeling the impact of COVID-19 personally, but what compelled you to create Cream Town to empower others in your industry?
I was compelled to create Cream Town because I lost all potential work and was having trouble getting Centrelink, so I thought I'd have to try and start selling prints to get some cash to survive.
I thought that perhaps other people would be in the same boat, so I began to contact other artist's I knew through Instagram and they all responded really enthusiastically, so we just went from there. I recruited my friend Bronte to help me set it up and we've grown it to what it is today!
Being an artist can be quite isolating, so doing it with a community of other people makes it so much more rewarding! Everyone is so gorgeous and supportive, we're so grateful for everyone in the collective.
“We’ve been given an opportunity to change direction, I’m praying we don’t neglect it. ”
How do you choose who is on the site? Can anyone join?
Anyone can join Cream Town - the only criteria is that you've been financially affected by COVID-19.
How much money have you raised so far? And what does this look like for each artists (e.g. is it equivalent to a weekly wage)?
We've sold $35,000 worth of prints so far - but we're a long way off from giving everyone a weekly wage!
Our goal is to be able to financially support all of our 200 artists, so that's what we're working towards!
Finally, for the future of creative industries post-COVID, what do you hope will change for the better?
I sincerely hope, in a post-COVID world, that we learn to appreciate the enormous contributions the arts make to our everyday life and shower creators in the love and respect they deserve!
I also hope people use this time to re-think about the world they want to be apart of and make huge efforts to be the change they want to see.
If you’re financially stable and love art, purchase a print of your own on Cream Town’s website .
Follow for more @cream.town