Guy Stanley Philoche is a wildly successful artist who has managed to get his art into the homes of wealthy stars like Chris Rock and Real Housewife Dorinda Medley.
But when the coronavirus pandemic hit and punched a billion-dollar hole into the industry, Philoche decided to step in and do what he could to help those in need, according to CNN.
In March, he took to Instagram to send out a call for artwork. He said he wanted to spread some of his money around and planned to spend about $500 per piece.
The response to his video was massive and Philoche told CNN that his inbox was flooded with great work from longtime artists as well as people new to the industry.
Since March, he has spent more than $65,000 on art pieces from people across the world in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, London and New Zealand. Even artists who were in prison contacted him.
"The art world is my community and I needed to help my community. People say New York is dead, but it's far from that. There's an artist somewhere writing the next greatest album. There's a kid right now in his studio painting the next Mona Lisa. There's probably a dancer right now choreographing the next epic ballet. People forgot about the artists in these industries," Philoche said.
The pandemic has tightened many people's budgets and visual art was among several industries to suffer a massive hit as folks cut costs. In addition to tighter budgets, the loss of art shows, galleries and festivals destroyed any hopes artists had of making profits in 2020.
As Blavity previously reported, spring auctions are where most artists typically make the bulk of their profits. In just five days last May, art houses Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips brought in a combined $2 billion.
Philoche said one of his friends had a child but had recently been laid off.
"I told him, 'Don't worry, we're New Yorkers. We've been through 9/11, the blackout, the market crash, we've got this.' But he was scared, so I bought a painting from him to help him get through it. It was such a big deal for him at that moment, and that's when I realized if he's panicking like this, other artists are too," he said.
"So many people have reached out to me, telling me the piece I bought was the first art they ever sold. It meant a lot to me. I want to help as many artists as possible, to make sure they are able to buy groceries or pay their rent, or get their kids diapers or formula," the Haitian-American artist added.
CNN spoke with one of the artists who got a slice of the funds, Tara Blackwell, who said it was vital for her as her successful year was thrown into chaos when galleries closed.
Philoche spent $500 on one of her pieces and it not only helped her financially but gave her a spotlight. She has since been contacted by other galleries and art buyers interested in her work.
"His support meant the world to me at a time when things seemed really bleak. Guy's support and endorsement of my work has led to more interest from other arts patrons. I think what's really cool about what Guy has done is that he has gotten other collectors to take notice and join in these efforts to support the arts during this challenging time. Hopefully, his positivity continues to be contagious," Blackwell said.
Philoche told CNN that his own struggle to make it in the art industry has made him eager to always give back since he found success. He started out drawing Disney characters as he learned English from the cartoons. His pieces now sell for $100,000, but for two decades he scratched and clawed to find his place in the industry.
"But throughout those years, I had no one open a door for me. It was me going through the back door, the window until I found a way in the room by myself. Now that I have a seat at the table and I actually have a voice, I vowed to myself to open that door for other artists," Philoche said.
He now has a rule that whenever he sells a painting, he will buy a painting. He also has angered some of his investors by hilariously leaving some of his high-priced pieces on the side of the road for anyone to pick up.
“Art saved my life. I owe a debt that I could never pay. If I ever became successful, I would support art and become a benefactor,” Philoche told Amsterdam News.
“I just wanted to help my community as much as possible, and I saw that people who shared the same love of art became that for me. This was my way of helping out. I couldn’t have done this without the help of other collectors,” he added.
People noted that Philoche was one of the eight artists chosen by New York City to have a Black Lives Matter mural commissioned for Harlem.
He painted the badge numbers of the four officers involved in the killing of George Floyd.
“To actually witness it, to see a little girl stand on your two letters and put her fist up and take a picture… It was just powerful,” he told People.
“I didn’t have a gatekeeper when I moved to New York City. No one opened the doors and opened the gate. I had to go through the back door, I had to climb up the window just to be in the room. But now that I'm in the room, I have to make it my responsibility to open the door for other people now,” he added.
