Artists Living with Disabilities or Impacted by Housing Insecurity to be Featured in Bank of America Financial Centers Across the United States

"ArtLifting is on a mission to create opportunity and validation for talented artists who deserve it. One of the most common requests I heard at homeless shelters and social service agencies was for job opportunities, and we are providing the platform for it," said Liz Powers, co-founder and CEO of ArtLifting. "When individuals' talents are recognized, it can collectively have a huge impact on the economy and their feelings of self-worth and well-being."    

The program includes prints of the artwork paired with information on each artist's background and career, allowing the community to learn about each artist's unique perspective, style, and story, based on the diversity of their lived experiences and innovative processes. Prints of the artwork featured in financial centers are available for purchase through Artlifting's website. As part of ArtLifting's "business for good" model, Artists earn 55 percent of the profit from the sales of their work, and one percent from each sale provides supplies to art groups nationwide. The remaining 44 percent goes to ArtLifting to further their mission.

"This partnership with ArtLifting is the latest demonstration of Bank of America's commitment to supporting the arts and our communities," said Aron Levine, President of Preferred Banking at Bank of America. "We believe strongly in the power of the arts to help economies thrive and to create greater cultural understanding. We're proud to provide this opportunity for featured and future artists."

Nearly 100 financial centers feature works from the program, and will expand to 900 financial centers featuring works from the following ArtLifting artists:

• Damiano Austin (Seattle, WA)
• Olivia D'Addario (Easton, CT)
• Elizabeth Gauss (Denver, CO)
• Mike Gosbee (San Francisco, CA)
• Ted Gram-Boarini (Chicago, IL)
• Rudy Jean-Louis (New York, NY)
• Aneliya Kostova (New York, NY)
• Linda King (Providence, RI)
• Quána Madison (Denver, CO)
• Marc (Dallas, TX)
• Ronnie (Houston, TX)
• Eric Santamaria (Los Angeles, CA)

The response from the artists featured by Bank of America has been meaningful.  Artist Damiano Austin said, "No one could have told me when I was living in a shelter, with no place to call my own, that this would happen. The impact is literally immeasurable because without ArtLifting and Bank of America, who would see our art?" 

ArtLifting
ArtLifting champions artists impacted by housing insecurity and disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork.  We are a "for purpose, for profit" platform for artists that have traditionally been underrepresented in the contemporary art market. Each artist has a unique perspective, style, and story based on the diversity of their lived experiences, artistic talents, and innovative processes. The powerful combination of their artwork and stories inspire communities and drive social change. ArtLifting provides a range of meaningful offerings and opportunities to differentiate the design of spaces and inspire communities. Through the sale of artwork and unique products, our artists are able to earn an income for the work they are creating.

Learn more about ArtLifting at http://www.artlifting.com and connect with our community via Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook (@artlifting)

Bank of America
At Bank of America, we're guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We're delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It's demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

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Reporters May Contact:
Andy Aldridge, Bank of America
Phone: 1.980.387.0514
[email protected] 

SOURCE Bank of America Corporation