Carpe Art was conceived during my first semester as a professor at Montclair State University. Challenged to ideate a business opportunity that addressed a social need, four students conceived of a social platform that would enable MSU students in creative fields to showcase their talents. Katrina Davis and Haley Longo were passionate about this idea and built the virtual prototype, Breadcrumbs as a Wix site.
The idea for Breadcrumbs struck me as similar, though also different, to the Royal Academy for Arts Summer Exhibition in the United Kingdom. I lived in the UK in the 1990s, and I recall being so struck by the wonderful idea that each summer there is an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of art at a range of locations in London. Moreover, the works being sold included students! They could sell their works and those of us without lots of money, could afford to buy pieces to have in our homes! This brilliant idea inspired the first exhibition and in 2020, the Summer Exhibition is 252 years old! Of course, due to the pandemic, the exhibition will be taking place (physically) in October, 2020. Read more about the Summer Exhibition here:
Brilliantly conceived as a way to connect MSU talent with the wider world so that students could “take to market” their art work, Breadcrumbs remained an idea until the spring 2020 semester. In early February, 2020, eight students in my entrepreneurship class agreed to take on the challenge of reframing the original Breadcrumbs idea, doing research and customer discovery interviews, and pitching the results of their efforts to a panel of judges. During the summer, Nicole and William continued to refine the vision and the virtual prototype on Wix.com. It is exciting to see the results of their work and the birth of Carpeart.com! We have amazing talent here at MSU and Carpeart.com is proud to be a means of connecting those talents with the wider community and the world!
– Dr. Swartz