Art Pharmacy 2021 Wrap Up | Here's what we learnt

2021 brought many challenges but we are so thrilled to share all of our incredible achievements over the year. 

Our theme for this year was Flow. This saw us going with the flow, being adaptive and searching for opportunities within challenges.  

One particular change and focus became our Social Impact. We realised how important our projects were to keeping the arts community alive and adding joy into peoples lives through art. That's why we launched our Impact Business Plan that formally commits to supporting our artists community and improving quality of life through art. 

We are excited to be bringing more and more art into communities all over Australia in 2022. 

Here's some key things we learn this year.... 

NFTs are the next big thing!

We have been working in the digital art space for years and seen its growing popularity with our clients and around the world. Digital art speaks to the new technological world we live in, where digital is not only modern, efficient and solution focused, it's also part of the way we connect with others, space and memories. It is no wonder our clients see it as a solution to employee satisfaction, client attraction and strategic placemaking - digital art, like our digital world, is connecting us more than ever.

It is no surprise to us that NFTs have taken off and is in no way slowing down.

This year we started writing, talking and connecting in the NFT art space. We started an Art Fix IG series that spoke about digital art and the NFT world. We published blogs and jumped into chats with those working in the NFT space.

We are excited to be at the forefront of this new art era and can't wait to see what 2022 has to offer.

Art is becoming increasingly linked to our wellbeing

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment this month released some astounding figures on how the general public used public spaces in lockdown, which lasted 107 (long) days in Sydney and longer in other areas of Australia.

According to the survey which was conducted in 2020 (and then again in 2021 including around 4000 participants), 45% of people spent more time in public spaces than before Covid-19, and 76% of people used their public parks more often.

But what do you define as a “high-quality public space” and how does art fit into this equation?

As we see, and continue to see a change, in the use of public spaces, art plays a key role in creating the social fabric of cities and the quality of these spaces.

Art has always been linked to social practice and has repeatedly increased in importance during times of crisis and disruption. As we flocked to art and open public spaces for distraction, wellbeing and meaning during the pandemic (and continue to do so as we move into freedom) it is more important than ever to imbed these spaces with meaningful art that serves the community and contributes to a sense of place.

We have the potential to use the last year as a springboard to start shaping our public spaces into areas that give greater meaning and value to our lives. Let art lead the way!

Supporting our arts community and committing to Social Impact is more important than ever

Art is the essence of culture and adds greater value, connection and meaning to our lives - Covid made this more evident than ever. But our creative industry is suffering.  There are 25 million people in Australia who are increasingly demanding and seeing the value of the arts in their everyday lives yet government funding is dropping and cultural businesses are shutting their doors.

This is why we have written an Impact Business Model which promises to:

• Bring more art into Australian communities
• Foster and grow Australian artists practice

Our mission goes beyond our creative project outcomes - we are also committed to making real changes in the local community. Our Impact Business Model outlines our commitment to not only bringing more art into Australian communities but also to fostering and growing Australian artists practice.

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Bring on 2022!