Online Art Gallery Celebrates Decade of Progress in Making Art Accessible

UGallery.comUGallery Art in Room, a curated online art gallery, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The milestone marks a decade of devising new ways for buyers to shop for original artwork. Since its founding, UGallery has transformed the traditional art gallery into an accessible online experience by connecting buyers with one-of-a-kind artworks at price points lower than typically seen at brick-and-mortar galleries.

With roots as a business school project at the University of Arizona, UGallery initially served as an online outlet for student artists to sell their work.  When the site launched, it featured 25 works by 5 artists. Now, UGallery.com represents 500 emerging and mid-career artists from around the world.

“In the past, art was a black box – brick-and-mortar galleries were intimidating and there was little price transparency,” said co-founder and CEO Stephen Tanenbaum. “We launched UGallery with a mission to flip the art industry on its head and make original art accessible to everyone.”

UGallery operates much like a local gallery but has a global reach. UGallery has more than 2 million followers and sells art in 45 nations.

Curators choose the artists and works that will be featured, post detailed descriptions for each artwork, maintain individual relationships with artists, and host events for artists and clients. UGallery.com has offices in San Francisco and New York and a presence at art fairs. But they do most of their marketing online.

The company credits their service-oriented approach to e-commerce for their 40% year-over-year growth over the past three years. Art buyers get free shipping and returns. The artist ships the purchased art directly to the buyers in custom-built shipping boxes.

“We strive to be the premier online gallery,” said co-founder and Gallery Director Alex Farkas. “We focus a lot of energy on finding the most talented artists and connecting them with enthusiastic art buyers. Our mission is to develop lifelong relationships.”