JustSeeds.org is in danger of closing and needs your help!
Posted on December 20, 2006
Filed Under General |
I just got this email from Josh McPhee and its an important message about Justseeds.org being in danger of closing due to some shady ecommerce characters…Bastids!
1. Why has justseeds.org been shutdown?
2. What can you do to help re-open it?
3. Loose ends
1. Last week the company that was filling Justseeds’ online orders
(including hosting the webstore, processing payments, and shipping
products), unexpectedly went bankrupt, immediately shutting down
Justseeds’ online store. This was a complete shock to me, as the
fulfillment company was going through a transition of ownership, but
no one had mentioned the possibility of collapse or bankruptcy. On
top of shutting down distribution, the fulfillment house owed
Justseeds upwards of $10,000 (most of that money in turn was owed
directly to artists and zinesters who sold items on the site).
This has come at a terrible time – the holiday season is hardly the
time to close up shop. Additionally, justseeds was in the process of
transitioning to become an artist/worker owned and operated
collective, with over a half dozen artists linking together to make a
much more exciting and dynamic website and store. All the artists
involved would make the site the primary venue for distributing their
work, bringing dozens of new prints, posters, books and zines to the
site. We also had plans of merging with the political street art
website VisualResistance.org to add a political art blogging feature.
Now this is all in jeopardy. The formation of our new collective
entity will be near impossible if we are saddled with such a huge
debt before we even get off the ground.
2. I’m asking people to help rebuild Justseeds.org. Your donation
will keep political art available and support artists doing work that
is not fundable through art world and granting channels. Any
donations would be more than welcome, from $5 to $500. If 1000
people gave $10 each, that would cover the debt. You can donate by
going to www.justseeds.org/donate.html. Any money that comes in will
go directly to servicing old debt and then getting the new collective
up and running.
In addition to monetary support, I would be happy to receive
suggestions of new fulfillment houses, pro-bono business and
accounting advice, and help spreading the word about the situation.
This is a critical moment and justseeds might go under, which would
have an impact on a large community of artists and writers who depend
on justseeds for distribution and supporters who depend on it to
access to art they can’t find anywhere else.
3. Although the online store is down, I will continue to sell items,
particularly Celebrate People’s History posters, wholesale to stores
and other distributors. If you know of a store that might be
interested in carrying the posters or other Justseeds items, please
ask them to get in touch.
For those that have subscribed to the Celebrate People’s History
poster series, I WILL BE honoring and fulfilling the subscriptions.
According to the fulfillment house, four new posters went out to
subscribers late last week, and hopefully should arrive just before
or after christmas – let’s cross our fingers. I had plans to print
another four in January and February, but this is now dependent on
dealing with some of the debt.
Thanks to everyone that has supported Justseeds since I started it
back in 1997. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue for another ten years.
Solidarity,
Josh MacPhee/justseeds.org
So give em a hand its the season for chartiable works!
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Justseeds Art Show & Street Art Workers release party
Thursday, February 8, 2007, 6-10pm
Ad Hoc Art (www.adhocart.org)
49 Bogart St.
Brooklyn NY 11206
Justseeds.org and Visual Resistance present a one-night benefit art show and sale at Ad Hoc Art, Thursday February 8, 2007.
There will be an exhibition of artists supporting the transformation of Justseeds into an artist owned and run collective. Art by Justseeds artists and friends will also be on the sale, with prices starting at $4. The show will also be the NYC release of the Street Art Workers (SAW) poster project.
The show will feature over 30 artists from NYC and around the country, including: Swoon, Chris Stain, Josh MacPhee, RB827, Christopher Cardinale, Michael De Feo, Kristine Virsis, Elbow-Toe, GoreB, Imminent Disaster, k.see, Nicolas Lampert, Meredith Stern, Cristy Road, Pete Yahnke, and many more.
Along with the exhibition of the above artists will be the NYC release of the Street Art Workers’ Land and Globalization poster project, a collection of 25 posters representing artists from 10 different countries and over 20 different cities.
All proceeds from the show will go toward getting the Justseeds Artist Cooperative off the ground. Posters, books, and zines start at $4, with most artwork priced between $10 – 30.—About Justseeds
Justseeds was founded as a radical art distribution service by Josh MacPhee in 1997. In nearly 10 years of operations, it has became a crucial resource for radical artists and activists throughout the US.
In December 2006, the company that was filling Justseeds’ online orders (including hosting the website, processing payments, and shipping products), unexpectedly went out of business, immediately shutting down its online store. On top of shutting down distribution, the fulfillment house owed Justseeds upwards of $10,000 (most of that money in turn was owed directly to artists and writers who sold items on the site).
Now, like the proverbial phoenix, Justseeds is rising: a national network of artists are banding together to create a self-managed cooperative that will help spread radical art around the world.
For more information:
www.visualresistance.org/wordpress
visual.resistance@gmail.com