Startup Founder Making Art Accessible Beyond Galleries and Digital Screens
Tired of seeing unloved and dusty artwork in offices and hotels, Scott Ko was working in the public sector in Melbourne when the idea for ColourSpace first took seed.
“I realised we were paying someone monthly to deliver fake flowers to the office even though the artwork on the walls hadn’t been changed in years,” Scott recounts.
“I thought to myself, “What if I brought in art from local artists and changed it around?”
This initial idea drove the creation of ColourSpace, a social enterprise that sources artwork from local and emerging artists and hires them to corporate and communal spaces, changing pieces on a regular basis.
With no background in art, Scott understood how important it was to have artists in his team. He wanted ColourSpace to represent both the interests of local artists as well as audiences who, like himself, may not immediately recognise the value of art.
The more ColourSpace grew, the more Scott saw it as an opportunity to make art more accessible to the general public.
“We want to bring art into people’s lives, where they work, and not just in a gallery. Art has the power to connect through new ideas and perspectives. In a world where we are so technologically advanced, we are becoming distant and distracted, artwork can bring that humanity back into our lives.”
ColourSpace was recently certified as a social enterprise in recognition of its dedication to supporting emerging artists from all walks of life.
One-quarter of all revenue from ColourSpace’s subscription service is returned to artists and it directs a further 10 per cent of revenue to art programs for disadvantaged and underprivileged communities.
“Art impacts the lives of everyone; from homeless people who have created art to help them find purpose and to connect with community, to people from diverse backgrounds who connect over art,” Scott adds.
He says the Collider Accelerator Program delivered by QUT Creative Enterprise Australia (CEA) taught him to articulate the crucial problems his startup solves and resulted in ColourSpace’s artwork collection increasing from 50 to 90 pieces over the 12 weeks of the Program.
“For ColourSpace, the Collider Accelerator Program helped us really define our message, our target market and audience, and how we can scale our growth. That, plus the networks we’ve built, helped us leap out of the gates once the Program was finished, on-boarding several new clients in quick succession as a result.”
Learn more about ColourSpace here.
