Beautify, a startup that connects street artists, brands and vacant walls, announced Wednesday it is launching its platform in an aim to transform city streets and neighborhoods into “open-air galleries.”
The company began as a nonprofit called Beautify Earth, relying on volunteer artists to fulfill requests from companies and land owners. But Beautify COO Paul Shustak told Built In he found the model inadequate. He knew the organization needed to monetize and implement technology to meet growing demand from its clients.
Shustak says his “aha moment” came when he visited Wynwood, a neighborhood in Miami that is covered in graffiti art.
“I was just blown away by the murals and the story about how that neighborhood was transformed by art,” Shustak said. “I connected the dots. I said, ‘Well, we’re doing the same thing at Beautify.’ I mean, that was a real insight. Like, wow, there’s a business here, let’s start talking about creating a for-profit technology platform.”
A year and a half later, Shustak and his co-founder Evan Meyer have the new Beautify up and running. Until now, the site has been in beta, facilitating 120 murals in the company’s hometown of Santa Monica alone.
Typically, when a company is looking for space to advertise on, it’s difficult to find something that matches their expectations of size and location. Beautify’s aggregated database makes this process a bit easier. The marketplace allows property owners to post their empty walls that brands can then bid on. Artists looking for work can also use the site to find mural opportunities or connect to brands for specific campaigns. The idea, Shustak says, is to provide a “win-win-win-win” for local artists, brands, property owners and the community at large.
Most of the available space posted to the site now is in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, but the company is hoping to expand its model in other markets, namely Seattle, in the near future.
The company has also begun experimenting with QR codes and virtual reality lenses, allowing brands to have a marketing layer on top of the murals they sponsor without detracting from the art itself.
“We call it a new form of native advertising. What we’ve learned in working with brands is this is a powerful medium for them to take credit for the beautifying communities, take credit for supporting the arts,” Shustak said. “Not that we want brands to put their logos or products on the murals, that’s not the idea here. The idea is for them to sponsor art.”
Just a few decades ago, graffiti was considered criminal. Property owners weren’t asking artists to cover their walls in it and it certainly wasn’t something companies like Lexus and Starbucks were wanting to sponsor. Through the years, though, it has become more acceptable and even trendy, with acclaimed street artists like Banksy hosting exhibitions and selling his pieces for millions of dollars. Beautify believes this all boils down to a growing recognition of this art form as an asset, instead of a scourge, for communities.
“The art world, the public sector and the private sector, they’re all coming together and realizing the value of this medium,” Shustak said. “Street art is reaching a tipping point that we’re seeing and it’s the wave that we’re riding.”
