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Date: 11/23/2020
EASTHAMPTON – With the coronavirus still affecting people financially, many artists are struggling to pay the rent for their studios.
Danielle Tait, a photographer, and her boyfriend Edmund were thinking of ways to help people when he came up with the idea of creating a pin that resembled the Easthampton town line sign.
Edmund, who declined to provide his last name, told Reminder Publishing that he believes the sign is something that people specifically in New England identify with and that is why he chose to make a pin out of it.
After the pin was created, the couple was brainstorming places that could benefit from the proceeds. Tait reached out to the Easthampton City Arts (ECA) to start a fundraiser for them that incorporates arts, local businesses, and the community.
Tait wanted to bring her talent into it, she wanted to take cool pictures of the pin and capture landmark stores and people.
“I was interested in the imagery of it because I am a photographer, I am a visual person, and then I realized the way that I can be more helpful to the store and business owners is to take nice images in their stores and let people know that this business is still here, they are in the community, they trying to thrive in a time where we do not know,” Tait said.
The pins are being sold for $10 each and can be found at Big Red Frame, Wonderland413, Art in Motion – a dance studio in the Keystone Mills building, and at Prodigy Minigolf in the Eastworks building.
Owner of Wonderland Beth McElhiney said customers have to purchase the pins with cash or a check only because all of the money is going to ECA.
Tait knows firsthand what it feels like to pay rent to a place that she cannot use to protect the safety of people.
She said she has been paying the rent for her studio but has not used it because now people have to wear masks in public spaces and she is not able to have the same air circulation as she did in the summer when she kept her windows open with fans on. Now she finds herself using her yard and garage to take pictures.
Tait also shared that she saw a forum on Facebook of artists sharing how they are struggling and trying to pay rent for their studios. “We’ve got to do something. I feel like the arts in this area are so strong, so vibrant, and so much of what makes it so cool to live here like the musicians, the muralists, the painters, the sculptures, the jewelers. That what draws people to this area,” she said.
She wants business owners to know that if they are interested in selling the pins they can contact her at info@danielletait.com.