Canyon Crest Academy students start art-dealing company

To help promote the work of local student artists, a group of students at Canyon Crest Academy launched an online business where they can sell original artwork made by their classmates.

“We got the idea from seeing how many talented artists there were at our school who didn’t have a place to share their art,” said Sarah Maloney, 16, a junior at Canyon Crest Academy who lives in Carmel Valley.

The online business, which she created with four of her classmates, is part of a school project. They began by promoting their idea and reaching out to classmates who might be interested in taking part. They’ve spent about $50 in startup costs for expenses such as getting their website up and running, she said. The site, shopstartistry.com, which is currently under construction, has a page where all the artwork they sell will be on display, gaining exposure for the artists and potential profits.

So far, the group of students behind Startistry have been speaking with about 30 other Canyon Crest Academy students who make art to see if they want to list any of their pieces on the new website, Sarah said. The group began circulating fliers encouraging any interested students to email photos of their artwork, along with a description that includes the work’s title, genre and meaning. Artists also have to submit their name, age, contact information, name of the artwork, estimated price, and its size, dimensions and weight in ounces.

After submitting a piece of art to Startistry, and after it’s posted to the company’s website, the artist receives 80% of the sale price if it is purchased.

“We really want to give them an outlet,” said Sarah, adding that she likes making art sometimes, but she’s mostly interested in operating the business and financial side.

On the business end, she and her other founding members have learned skills including how to be persuasive and effectively pitch their idea to their peers.

“I really hope we can keep it going and expand it as much as possible,” said Sarah, who worked part time as a billing assistant, which propelled her interest in business and finance.

She also said the company could eventually grow to include student artists from other San Diego area schools who are also looking for ways to share their work and grow their audiences.

For more information, visit shopstartistry.com or the company’s Instagram account, @shopstartistry.