Surplus Art is an experimental project where excess cultural production generated by Jeremy Chen is paired with non-profit organizations and offered for sale. 100% of all profits from artwork purchased from surplusart.org or its Surplus Art mini-mall space or post-industrial storage facility are donated to the organization corresponding to each artwork.

GOALS

  • to support the good and valuable work that non-profits do

  • to have consumers support citizens and the common good

  • to have artwork operate within an alternative capitalist structure and art economy

  • to find additional art markets where affordable cultural production can be purchased and is (hopefully) meaningful for the buyer

  • to explore ways to increase an artist's agency in an art market

  • to envision the roles of art or cultural production in everyday life

 

NON-PROFITS     The following non-profits are paired with specific artworks and all profits from purchases will be donated to the designated non-profit. Surplus Art is not affiliated with any of these non-profits but seeks to support their missions.

 

INTERNATIONAL

  • Doctors Without Borders

  • Partners in Health

  • Oxfam International

  • Heifer International

  • Amnesty International

 

ENVIRONMENT

  • Practical Farmers of Iowa http://www.practicalfarmers.org/

  • Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/

  • Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA) http://cleaniowanow.org/

  • Poweshiek CARES (Community Action to Restore Environmental Stewardship) https://john-stone-lz6t.squarespace.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/poweshiekcares/

  • Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI) http://iowacci.org/

  • Milkweed Matters https://milkweedmatters.org/

 

SOCIAL JUSTICE & SERVICE

  • Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) http://dvipiowa.org/

  • American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) https://www.afsc.org/

  • Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) https://www.splcenter.org/

  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) https://www.aclu.org

  • Americans for Responsible Solutions http://americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/stand-with-gabby/

 

EDUCATION

  • Grinnell College Liberal Arts in Prison Program

  • Grinnell College Armando Montano Memorial Fund

  • United Action for Youth (UAY) Iowa City, Iowa http://www.unitedactionforyouth.org/content/

  • Scattergood Friends School & Farm http://scattergood.org/

  • Taproot Nature Experience http://www.taprootnatureexperience.org/app/

 

SOVEREIGN NEIGHBORS

  • Meskwaki Settlement (supporting their food sovereignty initiative with Red Earth Gardens and its Tribally Supported Agriculture program) https://www.facebook.com/REDearthGARDEN/

 

ART

  • Public Space One (Iowa City, Iowa) http://www.publicspaceone.com/

  • CSPS Legion Arts (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) http://legionarts.org/

  • Common Field, https://www.commonfield.org/

 

ANIMALS

  • The Humane Society http://www.humanesociety.org/

  • Mercy for Animals http://www.mercyforanimals.org/

  • Poweshiek Animal League Shelter (PALS) https://www.palspets.net/

 

The Surplus Art Guarantee

I promise to use all profits from surplusart.org project purchases to support the non-profit paired with the work.

References available on request. I willingly provide donation records to verify this guarantee. I am also open to an independent audit to prove my integrity.

surplusart.org is not affiliated with any of the non-profits it supports. These are organizations I know about, am familiar with, or trust in their mission.

 

100% of the profits are donated to the designated non-profit organizations

What does this mean? Your payment, minus the cost to ship it, goes to the non-profit organization the surplus art was paired with.

Once your payment (for the item and shipping cost) is received, Surplus Art donates your payment minus the shipping cost to the designated organization. In order to sustain the project, Surplus Art must recoup the shipping costs but the current model donates all the labor to store, handle, pack, ship items, and to maintain the website and physical storage and private gallery.

Shipping

Currently, the Surplus Art website only ships within the United States. If you want to order from elsewhere in the world, please contact surplusartorg@gmail.com to see if this is possible.

Future plans

Since this project begins as an experiment in its viability and sustainability, I am not starting as a 501(c)3. However, if the project proves successful enough in its goals, I may explore 501(c)3 status and have a board of directors with oversight of the project.

Sustainability

If you are an artist interested in this model of supporting non-profits, please contact me to collaborate or use this model on your own. I do not know where this may lead but it may be possible for many artists with surplus art to work together to provide enough inventory to sustain sales and donations to many non-profits.

 

MORE INFO     surplus art is a project by Jeremy Chen. His cultural production includes:

  • Individual art practice

  • Collaboration side-by-side with other artists

  • Work with the public or specific communities

Chen's research and production explores:

  • Drawing, Print Media and Book Arts.

  • Sculpture and Installation.

  • Digital print technologies, traditional and non-toxic printmaking (including screenprint, intaglio, relief, letterpress and monoprint) using autographic, photo-mechanical and digital methods.

  • Low tech use of video and sound.

  • The social roles of artists including collaborations, interactions, performances, social justice and economic inequity.