Liverpool art organisation dot-art is celebrating its tenth year in business with a new website to showcase the wide range of services, products and activities it has on offer. The company, which supports local artists and sells original and limited edition art as well as providing a variety of associated services, launched in 2006 and has established itself as an important part of the city’s cultural offer.

dot-art supports visual artists and champions art as an integral part of everyday life. They do this by offering access to affordable, locally sourced art for homes and businesses through their city centre art gallery and website and through the work of its social enterprise arm, which runs arts classes, a unique membership scheme providing a package of support and opportunities for local artists and an innovative inter-school art programme.

Managing Director Lucy Byrne founded dot-art in 2006 and has grown it from an initial idea to an established, unique and multifaceted organisation which occupies a vital position in the Liverpool City Region’s cultural infrastructure, offering services to artists that cannot be accessed elsewhere and encouraging everyone, from schoolchildren to business people to the general public, to value, engage with and participate in visual art. 2016 marks dot-art’s 10th birthday and has already seen the opening of a new gallery, open to the public 6 days a week; the growth of the dot-art team and the art class programme doubling in size from the previous year.

Lucy said:

“We are very excited about our new website, which means that whether you are wanting to book an art class, find out about our framing or printing services, or search for the perfect print for your living room, you can do so from any device, simply and quickly. We rebranded earlier this year and with it being our tenth birthday year as well, the time was right for a fresh new look.”

As well as offering art for the home, dot-art works with a wide range of companies and organisations looking to integrate art into the workplace and over the years has counted businesses such as Merseytravel, Bruntwood, Everton FC, Riverside Housing, Alder Hey Hospital and many more as clients. In addition they have developed partnerships with St Georges Hall, the Bluecoat, the Walker Art Gallery, Sefton Park Palm House and Ness Gardens to deliver the activities of it social enterprise arm.

Lucy added:

“Our schools programme is something I am very proud of and that I hope we can continue to grow for the next ten years.dot-art Schools is an interactive, online, inter-school, art competition, taking place on an annual basis and culminating in a exhibition.Working with partners such as St Georges Hall to allow children to see their work on public display has allowed us have a lasting impact on the lives of hundred of young people. Schools are having to sideline the arts more and more, so I want us to play a small part in giving all children, regardless of their background, the opportunity to experience and participate in the arts at a formative stage of their education and have their eyes opened up to the possibilities of a creative career.”

Major Project Impact:
Artist Support

Over the past 10 years dot-art has supported over 500 visual artists and helped them to build or develop their careers; some of whom are still members today.

dot-art Schools

In the first three years of this programme, dot-art Schools engaged over 2500 children from over 80 schools, reaching a physical audience of over 22,000, combined with a vast online reach.

Art Classes for the Public

Since 2011 courses have provided regular work for 22 artist tutors and delivered over 7800 hours of teaching to almost800 participants.

Liverpool Art Fair

dot-art launched Liverpool Art Fair in 2012 with the aim of connecting local artists with new art buyers on a large scale, breaking down barriers, and making affordable art accessible to all.
Over the first 4 years it has shown work by almost 1000 artists based within 25 miles of Liverpool and welcomed almost3000 new art buyers.

The new dot-art website can be seen at: http://dot-art.com

A video documenting the first 10 years of dot-art can be seen here: https://youtu.be/zaKW-Yw-WBw
The dot-art Gallery is open 10am-6pm, Monday to Saturday.

Address: 14 Queen Avenue, Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 4TX. Phone: 0345 017 6660 / Email: info@dot-art.com