ST-ART Up Nation: Promoting Young Israeli Art

While I was hibernating the past few, um, months, a few exciting new initiatives/ sites have cropped up from Israel that Id like to feature this week. I’m not just talking about Twitter feeds for Israeli cultural events in NY or newsletters about Israeli art exhibitions, I’m talking about real interactive, innovative and exciting projects/ organizations/ sites/ etc that elevate Israeli art to a new level of engagement. And so, to kick things off, and perhaps clarify what I mean, take a look at ST-ART, “the first Israeli artist incubator project”.

Founded in 2008 by Serge Tiroche, ST-ART aims to advance new and young Israeli artists through a mentoring program that, much like venture capitalists offer business entrepreneurs, guides them through the business side of the art world.

Each year, four to six talented art school graduates are hand-picked by Tiroche and CEO and curator Dana Hasson, for a two year “incubator period” in which artists exhibit in Israel and abroad and meet with leading figures in today’s art scene, from gallery owners to critics to collectors.

“About 90 percent of art school graduates, estimates Tiroche, give up on a fulltime career as an artist within a year or two,” says Tiroche. An astonishing – and saddening – statistic that ST-ART clearly hopes to overturn.

For more on ST-ART, check out this recent article in the Jerusalem Post or visit their website. Or, head on down to see the excitement for yourself at ST-ART 3, featuring works by Michel Platnick and Michal Shafnir, currently on view at HaTsedef 8 in Jaffa.

Above: Untitled, 2009 by Michal Shafnir